Context:
Boeing Starliner successfully docks NASA crew at International Space Station.
Starliner has innovative, weldless, reusable structure lasting up to 10 missions with six-month turnarounds, featuring wireless internet interfaces.
International Space station (ISS):
- An artificial satellite research facility
- A low-earth orbit space station, launched in 1998
- 5 participating space agencies – NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and CSA (Canada).
- Largest manmade and habitable artificial satellite.
- Altitude: Installed in the near-earth orbit which is about 400 km above the earth.
- ISS orbits the Earth every 90 minutes.
Benefits of ISS:
- Research on Earth: The ISS collects data and images aiding climate research, disaster monitoring and response, and studies on light pollution.
- New Frontier in Physics: The ISS’s microgravity environment offers new insights into physics, enabling research on colloids, bubbles, and fluid behaviour.
- Advancing Human Health: Scientists study disease, test drugs, and examine human biology using microgravity tools like protein crystals and tissue chips.
- Low Earth Orbit Economy: It is a platform for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and researchers to test their technology in space.
- Long-Duration Space Travel: Research aids understanding space travel’s impact on humans and feasibility of human habitats on Mars.
India’s Own Space Station:
- ISRO is developing India’s 1st space station, Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
- The station is planned to be assembled in a phased manner like ISS by 2035.
- The Gaganyaan mission, expected to launch by 2026, will demonstrate India’s capability to send humans into space
Related News:
- Tiangong, a space station that Chinese Manned Space Agency (CMSA) is building in low Earth orbit.
- China launched Shenzhou-12 spacecraft carrying 3 astronauts to dock with the Tiangong space station.
- Nauka (meaning science in Russian) a space module, is launched by Russia to replace its existing module at ISS to serve as a research facility.
Source: Reuters
Previous Year Question
What is the purpose of ‘evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA)’ project?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2017 Prelims]
(a) To detect neutrinos
(b) To detect gravitational waves
(c) To detect the effectiveness of missile defence system
(d) To study the effect of solar flares on our communication systems
Answer: (b)
