Chandrayaan-2 detects presence of water molecules on moon
New Delhi: Chandrayaan-2, ISRO's second lunar mission, has detected the presence of water molecules on the moon, data obtained from the mission has revealed.
In a paper co-authored by A S Kirankumar, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman, said imaging infrared spectrometre (IIRS) is one of the payloads on-board Chandrayaan-2, which is placed in a 100 km polar orbit to acquire global scientific data.
The initial data analysis from IIRS, clearly demonstrates the presence of widespread lunar hydration and unambiguous detection of OH and H2O signatures on the Moon between 29 N and 62 N lat., after incorporating physics-based thermal correction to reflectance data, the paper which was published in Current Science journal said.
Plagioclase-rich rocks have been found to have higher OH (hydroxyl) or possibly H2O (water) molecules when compared to the mare regions, which were found to have more dominance of OH at higher surface temperature, it said.
The development also assumes significance considering that Chandrayaan-2 did not yield desired results.
Planned to land on the South Pole of the moon, Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22. However, lander Vikram hard-landed on September 7, crashing India's dream to become the first nation to successfully land on the lunar surface in its maiden attempt.
The orbiter of the mission is working fine and has been sending data to Chandrayaan-1, the first lunar mission, and showed evidence that there was water on the moon, the paper said.
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Railways announces 84 special trains following IndiGo flight cancellations
New Delhi (PTI): The Railways announced 84 special trains across all zones for Saturday to help people facing travel disruptions due to the mass flight cancellations by IndiGo.
In a coordinated move by the Railway Ministry, the trains, which are to make 104 trips, were arranged in the shortest possible time after analysis of train traffic situations in major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna, and Howrah, among others.
"The number of special trains and their trips might increase further depending on the traffic scenario. All zones have been asked to make use of all available resources, including rolling stock as well as manpower, to safely operate these trains for the convenience of lakhs of passengers stranded at different parts of the country due to flight cancellations," said Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information & Publicity, Railway Board.
Officials said efforts are being made to make people aware about the trains, and some divisions have even disseminated information at nearby airports to help passengers.
South Eastern Railway has issued a press release and informed the Airport Authority to display information regarding the newly introduced special train services.
ALSO READ: SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
"Western Railway will run seven special trains on a special fare between Mumbai Central-New Delhi, Mumbai Central-Bhiwani, Mumbai Central-Shakur Basti, Bandra Terminus-Durgapura, Valsad-Bilaspur, Sabarmati-Delhi and Sabarmati-Delhi Sarai Rohilla stations," a press note said.
Similarly, South Central Railway on Saturday announced that it would run four special trains to manage the surge in passengers resulting from the large-scale cancellation of IndiGo flights.
Central Railway and Northern Railway have planned 14 and 10 special trains respectively, and officials said these numbers are being further reviewed to meet any rising requirements.
Other zones have also issued notifications regarding special trains along with their schedules.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggages have been misplaced.
