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Virgin Galactic completes first space tourist flight
10th August 2024
On August 10, 2024, Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity completed its first private astronaut mission, Galactic 02, marking a milestone in commercial space tourism. The flight carried Jon Goodwin, an 80-year-old adventurer and Parkinson’s patient, alongside Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastatia Mayers, the first Caribbean women in space. Unity reached an altitude of 88.5 kilometres before gliding back to Spaceport America, New Mexico. Virgin Galactic plans monthly flights, despite modest revenue due to lower ticket prices for early customers. The mission highlights the company’s vision of broadening access to space and advancing commercial spaceflight.
VSS Unity's release phase during Galactic 02 spaceflight. Credit: ndtv.com
References
SPACENEWS. "Virgin Galactic conducts first space tourist suborbital flight." [ spacenews.com]
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Maiden National Space Day
23rd August, 2024
India celebrated its inaugural National Space Day on August 23, 2024, marking the Chandrayaan-3 mission's historic lunar South Pole landing. The event in New Delhi's Bharat Mandapam featured President Draupadi Murmu, ISRO Chairman Dr. S Somanath, and Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh. Dr. Somanath lauded Chandrayaan-3's success and emphasized global collaboration in space exploration. Dr. Singh highlighted ISRO's rise from its 1969 origins to global prominence, India's burgeoning space economy, and ambitious plans for a space station by 2035 and a lunar landing by 2040. The event showcased India's leadership in space technology and its transformative societal benefits.
The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, graced the first National Space Day Celebration at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Credit: amazonaws.com
References
Geospatialworld. "India Celebrates Maiden National Space Day." [ geospatialworld.net]
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Simulations reveals turbulence dynamics in black hole accretion disks
28th August, 2024
On August 28, 2024, researchers from Tohoku University and Utsunomiya University reported a breakthrough in understanding turbulence in black hole accretion disks. Using supercomputers like Fugaku and ATERUI II, they conducted the highest-resolution simulations yet, successfully reproducing the inertial range connecting large and small eddies. They discovered that slow magnetosonic waves dominate this range, explaining ion heating in accretion disks and distinguishing their turbulence from solar wind turbulence. This research enhances the interpretation of data from telescopes like the Event Horizon Telescope, offering deeper insights into the extreme physics surrounding black holes. Findings were published in Science Advances.
Artistic image of accretion disk turbulence. The inset is the magnetic field fluctuations computed by the simulation of this study. Credit: scitechdaily.com
References
Science Daily. "Supercomputer simulations reveal the nature of turbulence in black hole accretion disks." [ sciencedaily.com]
