Question

Into the Satellite Era

Answer 1

Answer:

At 6:40 am EST on April 1, 1960, a three stage 90-foot tall Thor-Able rocket lifted a drum shaped, 270-pound satellite from the launching ...

Answer 2

Answer:

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Explanation:

In the 1970s, India took a giant leap into space with the

launch of its first satellite Aryabhata. Named after the famous

ancient Indian astronomer, the satellite weighed 360 kg at the

time of its launch.

Aryabhata looked like a large box with many faces

(polyhedron). The satellite’s entire body was covered with

solar cells that generated electricity when they were exposed

to sunlight. Aryabhata was built to understand the challenges involved in building a sophisticated device like a satellite.

Nevertheless, it was a scientific satellite as it carried three

scientific instruments to study the sun, distant heavenly bodies

and the Earth’s ionosphere. On 19 April 1975, a Soviet Rocket

carried Aryabhata into a 600 km high orbit. Aryabhata laid a

firm foundation to India’s satellite programme. With this, Indian

scientists moved ahead and began building Bhaskara 1 satellite,

which was intended to conduct Earth observations.

Bhaskara 1 was also launched by a Soviet rocket into orbit

in June 1979. It carried a TV camera for taking the pictures of

Earth’s surface. Besides, it carried a microwave radiometer, an

instrument to study the Earth. A similar satellite, Bhaskara 2,

was launched in 1981 on another Soviet rocket. The experience

gained during the Bhaskara programme was the foundation

stone for the later Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite

programme.

Geosynchronous orbit lies at a height of about 36,000

km from the surface of the Earth, which of course, is almost

one-tenth of the way to moon. A satellite circling the Earth at

that height takes 24 hours to go round the earth once. Since the

India in Space: A Remarkable Odyssey

170 Indian Contributions to Science

Earth also takes 24 hours to spin around its own axis once, the

satellite’s speed is synchronized with the Earth’s spin, hence the

name ‘geosynchronous orbit’. A satellite in such an orbit placed

over the equator is called a geostationary satellite.

In the late 1970s and early 80s, ISRO scientists also built

the Rohini series of satellites and gained additional experience

in building satellites. Rohini satellites were launched by India’s

first indigenous launch vehicle SLV-3.