India is attempting to soft-land a rover on the moon and will attempt, at some point next year hopefully, sending humans into orbit. All of this makes an exciting time for space around the world, notes Aakar Patel.
A NASA spacecraft has detected deposits of glass on Mars.
ISRO hopes to put a crew on the moon, but it has to learn how to keep people alive and healthy in space first.
India is set to operationalise its own navigational system with the successful launch of IRNSS-1D, the fourth in the series of seven navigational satellites, onboard PSLV-C27 from Sriharikota on Saturday.
From The New York Times to BBC and The Guardian to The Washington Post, the historic event in India's space programme on Wednesday made headlines across the globe.
Asteroid 2011 UW-158, an asteroid with 90 million tons of platinum core worth over five trillion dollars, hurtled past earth early Monday morning.
'A person weighing 68 kilograms on the Earth would weigh only over 11 kg on the Moon'
Three Chinese astronauts on Thursday entered the country's new space station after their spaceship successfully docked with it, just over seven hours after the launch from the Gobi Desert, in a major milestone for the Communist giant's space exploration plans and its bid to become a leading space power.
'ISRO's style is a terrific example of being able to survive, acknowledge failures, and then most importantly of all, learn from them to ensure that subsequent missions are successful.'
'If Chandrayaan 1 had a launch with GSLV, we need not have an orbiter for Chandrayaan 2.' 'We could have gone straight round the moon and landed on the moon.'
While New Jersey, US-based OrbitBeyond leads a consortium of subcontractors who have designed and developed hardware for deep space missions, Bengaluru-based Team Indus is leading OrbitBeyond's lander engineering, reports T E Narasimhan.
Deciphering its secrets will unlock the early history of not only our planet, but also of the star system, explains Kumar Abishek.
The stage is set for the launch of India's satellite IRNSS-1D on Saturday from Sriharikota onboard workhorse PSLV-C27 that would pave the way for the country's own navigation system on par with the GPS of United States.
Scientists also expressed the hope that any technical problem will be sorted out by ISRO, and the mission will be launched successfully.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday gave away Gandhi Peace Prize 2014 to ISRO in recognition of its services in transforming India through the use of space technology.
The New York Times, The Washington Post, The BBC and The Guardian, among many other leading foreign media outlets, all carried stories on Chandrayaan-2, India's landmark moon mission.
Starting on Monday, the country's low-cost Mars mission that is in a rendezvous with the red planet for an extended period will enter the "blackout" phase snapping communication with the satellite.
ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan spoke with rediff.com briefly before the launch of India's mission to Mars
In fact, a $1-million initial fund has been announced to help developers build apps and new services, including for more local-language content, and a contest has been launched, too.
As for his interest in space, Amazon founded Blue Origin, a privately funded aerospace company.
'The unflappable temperament and nerves of steel under extreme pressure -- essential ingredients in space research -- were on full display in the rows occupied by the scientists still engrossed in their monitor screens,' says Minnie Vaid, author of Those Magnificent Women And Their Flying Machines, ISRO's Mission to Mars.
'The ultimate satisfaction of helping in the country's space programme is the bigger achievement attracting women to space research -- and they are so good at it!'
The spacecraft is the first to take the American astronauts to orbit from American soil in nearly a decade.
Contributors to Team Indus project will have names etched on an object going to space.
China on Friday announced plans to boost space cooperation with Pakistan, including the development of a space centre and launching of more satellites for its all-weather ally.
And what happens next?
'In our textbooks, we never had chapters where a woman does something. We had one Rani Laxmibai chapter, the rest only the men did. We have been trained like that but, now, things have to change.'
This handout image from obtained from the European Space Agency / National Aeronautics and Space Administration, obtained on August 21, 2008 taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board the ESA's Mars Express shows the highest-resolution full-disc image yet of the surface of the martian moon Phobos.
'In a part of the world where the government tells people what not to eat and what slogans to shout and not shout, it is beneficial to develop a mentality that is science minded and therefore open-minded.' 'That is possibly why the space programme has always had support from all sides of the political divide,' says Aakar Patel.
There appears to be uncertainty over availability of a lander from Russia even as the 'desi' rocket to launch the space odyssey would take time to become operational.
It is important for India to develop multiple launch sites and become capable of undertaking more launches in a year's time, says Ajey Lele.
'The simultaneous fire from so many guns rained down on the enemy and pulverised them, a sight I can never forget till my last breath.'
Ice? Volcano? Or Alien life? The discovery of two bright spots on Ceres -- the dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that happens to be the largest body in that asteroid belt -- has baffled scientists and space enthusiasts.
'When the Americans are talking about colonising Mars by 2030, India cannot be lagging behind.'
Bezos wears it on his sleeve, Nadella keeps it quiet
The new organism -- Solibacillus kalamii -- was found on the filters of the International Space Station.
Dr Rao accelerated the development of rocket technology which led to the successful launch of ASLV and PSLV satellites.
The International Space Station has completed 15 years of continuous human presence.
Lt Col Raja "Grinder" Chari, 39 is in the batch of 2017.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Dawn spacecraft has beamed back a series of new images of the dwarf planet Ceres, showing tantalising detail of the mysterious world's surface.
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