Heena Sharma Blog

The first person to set foot on Mars is likely to be a woman, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said. While Bridenstine did not identify a specific person, he said that women are at the forefront of the US space agency's upcoming plans. Asked if a woman will go to the Moon for the first time, Bridenstine said "The answer is absolutely. In fact, it is likely to be a woman, the first next person on the Moon." "It is also true that the first person on Mars is likely to be a woman," Bridenstine said during a recent interview on the science and technology radio talk show "Science Friday." NASA recently announced that it will have its first all-female spacewalk at the end of the month, when astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will get to float around in space. "We have the first all-female spacewalk happening this month at the end of March, which is of course, National Women's Month. So NASA is committed to making sure t

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is planning to launch India's earth observation satellite Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) and 30 small satellites from eight countries on November 29. ISRO said that the Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Core Alone variant (PSLV-CA) will fly with the 380 kg HysIS satellite and 30 overseas satellites together weighing 261.5 kg. The PSLV rocket is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages/engines. The entire mission will be completed in just over 112 minutes after the rocket’s liftoff, said Isro sources. Just over 17 minutes into the flight, the PSLV rocket will place the HysIS satellite with a mission lifespan of five years in 636 km polar sun synchronous orbit. After that, the rocket will be brought to lower altitude to about 503 km from 642 km, said the space agency. The Indian space agency has earlier done a satellite mission for over two hours in January 2018. Read

Nasa InSight will study the interior of Mars and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners, and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon," CNN quoted Bridenstine as saying. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is the first outer space robotic explorer and will study the crust, mantle, and core of the fourth planet in our solar system. The lander, launched on May 5, 2018, from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and took a six-month cruise from Earth to Mars ever since, is NASA 's first spacecraft to land on Mars since Curiosity. "We've studied Mars from orbit and from the surface since 1965, learning about its weather, atmosphere, geology and surface chemistr