NASA's newest planet hunter starts science operations
Washington, July 29 : After a successful launch in April this year, NASA's newest planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), has now started its search for planets around nearby stars.
Officially beginning science operations on July 25, TESS is expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in August, and thereafter periodically every 13.5 days, once per orbit, as the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth, NASA said in a statement.
"I'm thrilled that our new planet hunter mission is ready to start scouring our solar system's neighborhood for new worlds," said NASA Astrophysics Division Director Paul Hertz.
"Now that we know there are more planets than stars in our universe, I look forward to the strange, fantastic worlds we're bound to discover," Hertz added.
TESS is NASA's latest satellite to search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. The mission will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light.
These events, called transits, suggest that a planet may be passing in front of its star. TESS is expected to find thousands of planets using this method, some of which could potentially support life.
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Gratuity stuck despite 2 favourable orders, Ex IIT bombay contract worker commits suicide
Mumbai: On December 27, 2019, Raman Garase, alongside Dadarao Ingale and Tanaji Lad, received a disheartening "retirement letter" from the administration at IIT Bombay. Despite their fitness at 60 years old, the transition to retirement meant forfeiting post-retirement benefits, including gratuity. With over three decades of service, the trio fought for their rights, securing two favorable orders from the labor commission mandating the institute to pay up.
However, as the administration geared up for another appeal, Garase tragically succumbed to hopelessness, taking his own life on May 2. His death shows the plight of 1,800 contractual workers "retired" over the past decade, denied benefits despite years of service.
Garase, Ingale, and Lad had hoped for permanency during their decades-long tenure, promises that remained unfulfilled. The institute's silence on Garase's suicide and refusal to acknowledge his ordeal exacerbates the injustice faced by contractual workers. Their fight, supported by student groups and rights advocates, sheds light on systemic issues within institutions like IIT Bombay.
Read the detailed report by The Wire here :
