When the entire nation was submerged in the splendor of IPL and the Indian New year in the middle of April, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was gearing up for something new and something more challenging. April 15, 2010 was supposed to be a red letter day in the history of Indian space mission when the GSLV MK II was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. GSLV stands for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Satellites move around a planet on certain pathways called orbits. The moon is a natural satellite and moves in an orbit of a mean distance of 384,000 km from the surface of the earth. Coming back, there are basically three types of orbits on which satellites move around the earth: 1) Polar orbits: this orbit lies more or less above the north and south poles and allows the satellite to look over almost every part of the earth. 2) Sun-synchronous orbits: the climate of a place can be determined by satellites which move in sun-synchronous satellites. The satellites move over a given place at one particular time of the day. 3) Geosynchronous orbit: the satellites moving in geosynchronous orbits have a period of revolution of 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds, same as the time-period for earth rotation. We can watch a match being played in South Africa or any other part of the world with the help of these satellites. Going by the name, GSLV is a launch vehicle. A launch vehicle is a means or a carrier of the satellites. We use a vehicle; say a truck, to move luggage from one place to another. Similarly, the satellites, made on earth need a means to reach the outer space and this means is the launch vehicle. The satellite and all other indispensable stuff which the launch … [Read more...]
iPad: New gadget from Apple
Around 5 lakh students appeared for the IIT-JEE 2010. And many more appeared for other engineering and medical entrance examinations. Students travel to different parts of the country, either to appear in exams or for an extended study period. The most important thing which they need apart from food, shelter and clothing are books. Business professionals are always on the move and have to go through various files and documents pertaining to their work. By and large, everyone one of us is related to paper work and internet in some way or the other. However, it is always not possible to carry books, files and documents along with us. We can have an access to internet through our mobiles but the convenience of a small screen is not always satisfactory. The iPad is one product which has the potential to bring about a revolution in this field. iPad is the latest development of the ‘i’ series and from where has it come? The answer is so obvious to us; Apple Inc. Apple was the first company to bring about a revolution in the personal computer domain when it introduced the Macintosh, way back in the early 1980s. The iPod was introduced at the beginning of the new millennium and was received with huge following. The iPhone followed suit and overcame all odds to become a popular feature for the younger generation. Apple has now come up with a new product called iPad which promises to leave behind all other tablet computers. A tablet computer, as one would assume, is a computer on a ‘tablet’ or screen. Both the screen and the keyboard can be viewed on the display screen and the typing can be done by using a digital pen, stylus or even fingertips. The iPad is one such product which is meant for internet browsing, gaming, simple … [Read more...]
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