Tag Archives: space technology

“Proxima B – Any Possibilities for Human Base?”

Humans have been in the search of life which may be residing in outer space except our solar system. They have been able to distinguish these planets from those which might be able to support life on them. Space technology and development in it has helped humans to go beyond the boundaries humans ever imagined. The next big thing which could really bring a greater change would be inter planetary movements between our planet and other planets where we can live. Scientists have been in the search of various of these planets and have been successful in finding out those, but the real problem which is an area of concern is their distance from earth, which makes it much of a difficult task to reach. But in between all these, scientists have found a planet named Proxima B  in the Proxima Centauri. This century is near to the well know Alpha centauri. The planet is about 4.24 light years away which makes it one of the closest planets for us to reach other than our solar system which has a tendency to support life. 

But the main question which do arises is that “Can we send humans to the planet, knowing the fact that it is at a distance of some light years, along with some important necessary factors like availability of Oxygen in abundance which will support life for so many years and also fuel to provide us the required thrust and power to keep it motion.”

Scientists believe that Proxima has capabilities to support life as it is at an adequate distance from its nearest star and thus lies in the Goldilock zone. They also believe it has a perfect chance to support life and also have possibilities if the atmosphere over there. So scientist do think that we can support life over there. But how to reach out there? Scientists are planning to send a lightweight satellite first with a phenomenon called Breakthrough Starshot, which would be lazer thrust given from the surface of earth and is expected to be travelling 1/20 the speed of light, thus reaching Proxima B within 15-20 years. 

But how can we send humans to such a planet, about which we know very little and only have possibilities about it. This could be sending various satellites and rovers to and planned unmanned flights which would land on the surface and get us closer to the surface. But the process would take years and may be centuries to follow up. Also the starshot technique does lack in its ability to stop, this wouldn’t allow it to get a closer look, rather would just pass away from the planet. And rest techniques would take thousands of years to reach this planet. 

So what could be the possible way out to solve this problem? Scientists believe that we can conduct space travel which would allow some of the chosen astronauts to remain in space for their lifetime and even die there. There further generations and generations would help us reach the planet. Also the oxygen and food will be made in space only. This could really transform the human genes and their way of living. But it’all theoreticals. 

We still lack major technologies and assurity of various space phenomena, which do lack our possibilities to conduct various space experiments. There can be many developments and alternatives for space travel, maybe in the future, but with current technology, it’s possible to reach other planets as light years, but would take our generations to follow up this mission. 

But the curiosity and different experiments may also lead us to find out new planets with the ability to support life, closure to our plants and thus make this dream of travelling in space to other planets than our solar system possible. But the recent advancement and projects which are working on includes the colonization of Mars. This would help us figure out their desired techniques, technologies and thus prepare us with better understanding of living standards to be followed on other planets than earth. Humans have the power to achieve zenith with their new ideas and will power, but nature being the divine power has many hidden secrets which are still hidden. Same is the case with the space. So we need to take care of the balance and steps for advancing but without any stakes to humanity . 

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“Satellites And Their Outweighing Assistance”.

The era which we see around is a total definition of how technology and science have made our life’s more comfortable and entertaining. We use technology in everything we admire to work on, be it our smartphones, vehicles ,cooking and many more. Our life is incomplete without these applications and thus are an important part of our day today activities. But these technologies are not only limited to this planet only. We have been able to accomplish the goal to reach the space with all the research work and various new ideas to develop the required technologies for them. The journey to space started with the launch of a satellite to it and till date it’s no looking back. We have sent a number of satellites to space irrespective of their size, rockets and even human beings. These surely have helped human in many way out. Satellites have been a part of our life for more than 5-6 decades and helped humans depending up on their needs. 

So the first question which comes to the mind of any individual is “What really is a satellite and how is it able to perform different activities”. We have been using satellites in anything we use today. Be it for watching television, weather reports, calling, GPS,Defence and many more. We are surrounded by technologies which do work with the help of these satellites and make our life more and more simple. So these satellites are objects which orbit our earth by remaining in its orbit. These are usually artificial satellites as these are man made, while the moon being our only natural satellite which do orbit our earth. The size of these orbits depends on the type of function they are meant for. These could be as small as mobile in your hand and could be as big as any vehicle or more. 

So “How these satellites work and get power from”. It’s difficult for us to charge these satellites regularly by bringing them back and also very costly. So these use the solar energy as power source for their functioning. Solar panels are usually attached on  the sides of these satellites, which trap the solar radiation and thus generate power. These usually consist of a transmitter in between which transmits the signal which they receive. These can also be controlled by the motors which are used either to change its orientation , if it gets deflected from its orbit or sometimes to power them so as to get away from any space debris coming in the same orbit which could surely harm the satellite. These satellites usually are divided on the basis of the phases or zones they work in. These could be named as:

 

  1. LEO or Low Earth orbit. – These satellites orbit our earth at a height ranging from 160-1600 km
  2. MEO or Medium earth orbit– These orbit earth at an height of 10000km to 20000 km and thus are placed at distant places from earth. These are widely used for navigation and locating places. 
  3. HEO or High earth orbit- These stay in orbit of earth to the farthest of points which is 36000 km and are also called geostationary satellites and rotate with the speed of earth and widely used for communication. 

 

“These satellites and technologies related to have more often helped us in many ways,and would be befitting in future also. But the only thing these add up to is the space debris.These are more often remained in space when there time period gets completed and are left to lose out in deep space. But all of this adds up as junk in space and might be harmful in our future trips to space. But usage of these satellites are more than their disadvantages , and thus have made life on earth More comfortable, knowledgeable and also given birth to a lot more complexities with it”.