Google+ SpaceTravelFoundation: 2013-08-18

August 20, 2013

The India GSLV launch has been delayed after a fuel leak

Dear followers,

yesterday India planed to launch GSLV rocket with the payload GSAT-14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota Island on India's east coast. However, it seems that a fuel leak before the countdown stop the launch process. This launch should be the first one since back-to-back failures in 2010.

Credits: ISRO

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicule (GSLV) is and expendable launch system operated by the India Space Reasearch Organisation (ISRO). This launcher has been developed to enable India to launch its own INSAT-type satellites into GEO orbit and to make India less dependent on foreign rockets such as Ariane5 or the Soyuz program.

August 19, 2013

NASA does not intend to repair Kepler

Dear followers,

many month ago, we talk you that some technical troubles happened on the Kepler spacecraft. Today, +NASA announced that they do not plan to repair the spacecraft. 

Credits: Wikipédia

Actually, +Kepler Space Telescope is blocked by the malfunction of a mechanism which allows the telescope to focus on a given point in the sky towards.
An engineering study will be done on the modifications required to manage science operations with the spacecraft using a combination of its remaining two good reaction wheels and thrusters for spacecraft attitude control.Depending on the outcome of these studies, which are expected to be completed by the end of this year, +NASA will assess the scientific priority of a two-wheel Kepler mission.


Discovery of huge cloud of gas by NASA

Dear followers,

+NASA has discovered using the Chandra X-ray observatory a huge could of multimillion-degree gas in a far away galaxy. The phenomenon is likely caused by a collision between a dwarf galaxy and a spiral galaxy. This impact must caused shock wave that generated hot gas with a temperature of about six million degrees.

Credits: +NASA 

The gas cloud is located in a galaxy about 60 million light years from Earth. This discovery could explain how galaxy grow through similar collisions. The mass of the entire gas could could is uncertain because it can not be determined from the 2D image, from the Chrandra X-ray.