ISRO's 'Matured boy' GSLV rocket successfully injects ISRO's meteorological satellite into orbit
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), Feb 17: Moving ahead on its mission to study the Earth and ocean surfaces, ISRO on Saturday successfully launched its next generation weather observation satellite INSAT-3DS onboard a GSLV rocket into a precise orbit.
The flawless mission prompted the ISRO to virtually heave a sigh of relief over the challenging GSLV rocket technology, as the director of today's mission said the "naughty boy has matured into an obedient, disciplined boy," apparently referring to its past unsuccessful missions.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath said the success gave the space agency "greater confidence," as the GSLV will be next deployed in the NISAR mission, a collaborative effort with the US' NASA.
The INSAT-3DS satellite, weighing 2274 kg is a follow-on mission of the third generation meteorological satellite to be placed in a geostationary orbit and is funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
The objective of the mission is to provide continuity of services to existing operational INSAT-3D (launched in 2013) and INSAT-3DR (September 2016) for enhanced meteorological observations, monitoring of land and ocean surfaces, weather forecast and disaster warning, as well as to provide satellite aided Search and Rescue Services (SAR) among others.
At the end of the 27.5 hour countdown, the nearly 52 metre tall GSLV-F14 lifted-off majestically from the second launch pad at this spaceport here, at a pre-fixed time of 5.35 pm.
The three stage rocket with a cryogenic upper stage, after a flight of about 20 minutes, got separated from the vehicle as planned and placed the satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
Later, scientists at ISRO would undertake a series of manoeuvres to place the satellite into the Geo-stationary orbit in the coming days.
The rocket carries imager and sounder payloads, data relay transponders, satellite aidedR transponders which would be used to study cloud properties, fog, rainfall, snow cover and depth, fire, smoke, land and ocean among others.
The imager and sounder payloads incorporated in today's mission are similar to those carried by INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR, with significant improvements in radiometric performances, the space agency said.
INSAT stands for Indian National Satellite System.
Somanath, also Secretary, Department of Space announced the successful accomplishment of the mission.
"The spacecraft has been injected into a very good orbit. The injection conditions were as expected and the vehicle has performed very very well...INSAT-3DS is the next generation weather satellite with improved capability over the existing INSAT series. This will augment the capability of observation of various atmospheric parameters that leads to information related to weather and climate," he said from the Mission Control Center here.
Mission Director Tomy Joseph, referring to the GSLV said, "the naughty boy has matured as a very obedient and disciplined boy."
"Like PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV has also become a robust vehicle for ISRO," he said, with his remarks prompting cheers and applause.
Somanath added that with today's mission, ISRO's confidence on GSLV was "further high."
"As all of you know, the next mission of the GSLV is going to be the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite and this gives greater confidence," for the next mission, he said.
According to ISRO, NISAR is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory being jointly developed by NASA and the Indian space agency.
NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally consistent data for understanding changes in Earth's ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, ground water and natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.
Addressing reporters later, Somanath said the data from the INSAT-3D satellite would be available "every 25 minutes" to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, once it becomes operational.
On GSLV, he said its earlier unsuccessful performances have "become a thing of the past".
"With that confidence, we have to go for the future without any worry on the configuration of the launch vehicle. Of course, everybody knows that every mission of a rocket has its own uncertainty and worries, but we have to overcome that by design and analysis of many of our systems including our cryogenic stage and also payload fairing", he said.
Imteyaz Ahamed, Satellite Director of Saturday's mission said the payloads of INSAT-3DS have been significantly enhanced and the enhancements are in terms of configuration, content and capability resulting in increased imaging throughput.
The satellite was on its way to the destination, with the solar panels having been deployed. A series of orbit raising manoeuvres will be performed in the next few days followed by in orbit testing and commissioning of the spacecraft, Ahamed added.
Various departments of Ministry of Earth Sciences such as India Meteorological Department, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services and various agencies and institutes would benefit from the data provided by INSAT-3DS to provide improved weather forecasts and meteorological services, ISRO said.
The life of the INSAT-3DS mission is expected to be around 10 years.
GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) February 17, 2024
The vehicle has successfully placed the satellite into the intended geosynchronous transfer orbit. @moesgoi #INSAT3DS
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Bird flu: Karnataka completes 10-day H5N1 surveillance, containment operation
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has successfully completed a 10-day intensive surveillance and containment operation following the detection of the H5N1 Avian Influenza outbreak here, officials said on Saturday.
The outbreak was reported in the State Poultry Rearing Training Centre in Mathkuru village, Hesaraghatta, on April 14, they said.
The surveillance was conducted by the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the state government in coordination with the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department, officials said.
According to an official statement, once the outbreak was confirmed, following laboratory reports from the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD-Bhopal), State and District Rapid Response Teams along with Hesaraghatta and Sonnenahalli PHC (Primary Health Centres) teams were immediately deployed.
An infected zone of 0-3 km and a surveillance zone of 3-10 km radius was established. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, culled all the birds and safely disposed of eggs and of contaminated feed, adhering to national and international biosecurity protocols, it said.
The health department said the surveillance zone from the infective focus in the 10 km radius, a total population of 28,172 across 22 villages was surveyed from day 1 to day 10. Multiple rounds of surveillance were conducted and sanitation activities were completed as per protocol.
During the surveillance period, nasopharyngeal samples collected from all quarantined staff on Day 5, sent to NIV-Bengaluru, were found to be negative for H5N1, it said.
On day 10, nasopharyngeal samples were collected and the results are awaited. No human case of H5N1 infection has been detected in the infected or surveillance zones, the health officials said.
"All healthcare facilities in Bengaluru have been instructed to continue ILI/SARI (Influenza-Like Illness/Severe Acute Respiratory Infection) case surveillance, and ensure adequate stocks of PPE, triple-layer medical masks, oseltamivir, viral transport medium, and throat swab kits," it said.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services issued a Sanitization Certificate on April 21, officials said.
"No poultry activity will be undertaken for a period of 90 days as a precautionary measure. During the three months of surveillance, the entire area of the farm will be repeatedly disinfected by fumigation (indoors) or sprays (open place) every 15 days," it further stated.
The public has been advised to avoid handling or consuming meat or eggs from sick or dead poultry and report sightings of sick or dead birds promptly to local veterinary or health authorities.
Ensure poultry meat and eggs are thoroughly cooked before consumption, as proper cooking effectively inactivates the virus, they said.
"The public is advised to follow official health advisories and avoid spreading unverified information," the department added.
