NASA To Launch Golf Cart-Sized Rover On Moon To Search For Water:

NASA sends a golf cart-sized robot to the moon in 2022 to search for deposits of water below the surface, an effort to evaluate the vital resource ahead of a planned human return to the moon in 2024.

The VIPER robot will drive for miles (km) on the dusty lunar surface to get a closer look at what NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has touted for months underground pockets of hundreds of millions of tons of water ice that could help turn the moon into a jumping-off point to Mars.

VIPER

VIPER stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. The rover is expected to arrive on the moon`s south polar region in December 2022, carrying four instruments to sample lunar soil for traces of hydrogen and oxygen  the essential components of water that can be separated and synthesized into fuel for a planned fleet of commercial lunar launch vehicles. NASA is in the process of kickstarting its Artemis program, an accelerated mission to put people back on the moon for the first time since the 1970s to train and prove technologies that would later be sent on a Mars mission. Scientists have eyed lunar water as a critical resource for enabling long-duration astronaut missions on the moon, though its form and exact amount are unknown. NASA crashed a rocket into the moon`s south pole in 2009 to confirm traces of lunar water ice in the plume of dust kicked up upon impact.

BEL develops an AI tool for security purpose:

The public-sector giant Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has announced that it is developing an Artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool for analysis of terrorist activities. The firm aims to utilize the use of AI in the security field.

Security e-tool:

The tool will be used in screening and segregating raw information and assist in generating intelligence assessments, decision-making, and operational planning. 

Developed by:

AI application in counter-terrorism is significant in the growing use of social media and online platforms. Government ministries and departments, including the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Information Technology, are involved in developing e-tools. The Ministry of Defence made it mandatory for defence public sector units to focus on the development and use of AI in various combat and non-combat domains.

Ericsson, Qualcomm demonstrated Indias 5G video call using mmwave: 

Swedish-based Ericsson and American-based Qualcomm demonstrated India`s first-ever live 5G video call using millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum. Ericsson partnered with Qualcomm to push 5G technology in India. 

Demo:

The 5G video call demonstration was completed using Qualcomm’s smartphone based on Snapdragon 855 mobile platform and Ericsson’s 5G platform.

The demonstration was held at the 2019 India Mobile Congress (IMC) event in New Delhi on 15 October 2019. 

The companies also demonstrated cloud-based gaming using a 5G commercial system and 4K video streaming in both sub-6 gigahertz (GHz) and mmWave spectrums. 

mmWave is a 5G network that ranges from 28-39 GHz spectrum. The network is currently being used only in advanced countries like North America, Japan, and Korea.

5G Technology:

5G will be the backbone of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine communications. It is expected to provide India with smart infrastructure that will open up new opportunities across India.

First Robotic restaurant two humanoids to serve customers in Odisha:

A restaurant in Bhubaneswar opened its doors to customers claiming to be the first eatery in eastern India, where two indigenously developed robots will serve customers.

The name of the robots is Champa and Chameli. The two humanoid robots rolled on the floor of the Robo Chef restaurant in the Chandrasekharpur area of Bhubaneswar in the evening and served food to the waiting customers. 

Jeet Basa, the owner of the restaurant who is a civil engineer by qualification inspired by the services by robots in restaurants during his visit to the US. There are restaurants in India where robots are serving customers. Robo Chef is probably the first restaurant where there is no particular track for them. They can move on in any uniform surface. The two robots that we have are wholly manufactured in India, unlike other restaurants where they are imported from China.

Centre launched PM innovative learning programme DHRUV:

The government launched the Pradhan Mantri innovative learning programme DHRUV in Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Bengaluru. The programme was launched by the Union Minister for Human Resources Development Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank on 10 October. Centre has selected 60 qualified students for the 14-day long program which began on 10 October.

DHRUV:

DHRUV is a unique programme that aimed to identify talented students. 

The students will be mentored in the centre of excellence for 14 days so that they can reach their full potential and work for society. It will conclude on 24 October at IIT-Delhi. 

Selection of students:

The programme will sharpen the innovative skills and knowledge of the students. The students will likely suggest solutions to socio-economic, political and environmental issues relating to the country. 

First ever spacecraft that can service satellites in space launched:

US-based Northrop Grumman Corporation launched the first satellite-servicing spacecraft robotic Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) successfully. It was launched aboard a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It was launched along with the Eutelsat 5 West B communications satellite.

Mission of MEV-1:

The MEV-1 is a satellite service spacecraft. The mission of the spacecraft is to provide service to the Intelsat 901. MEV-1 will lend Intelsat 901, to make use of its orientation thrusters to put it back into an ideal target orbit. The mission aims to extend the useful span of the 18-year-old satellite by 5 years. MEV-1 spacecraft itself has a 15-year useful life. The spacecraft can dock and undock multiple times.

After completing the mission successfully, the MEV-1 could service any other orbital satellite that is running low on its own propellant supply.

The students from classes 9 to 12 from government and private schools are chosen for the programme.

30 students from the science group and 30 others from Performing Arts will be selected finally by an advisory committee headed by the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) in consultation with the Department of Science and Technology, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and NCERT.

Mobile app to generate digital database of wetlands:

A mobile app has been developed to collect complete datasets on smaller wetlands across the coastal region of the country.

The app was developed by the Space Applications Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation on a request from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).

The mobile app is aimed to generate a centralized digital database of the smaller wetlands (2.2 ha or below) across the country.

wetlands cover an area of more than five lakh hectares across the country, while Kerala has 2,592 smaller wetlands.

The app will be used to collect field-level data of the wetlands that include geospatial profile, size, water and soil quality, farmed species, pollution status, illegal construction and biodiversity specialities.

The concept is to integrate field-level regional wetland data to geospatial datasets so as to enable comprehensive monitoring system in the wake of climate change and wetland vulnerabilities

The app could become a game changer in making wetlands resilience by bridging the gap between satellite and ground data

The continuous monitoring will help provide village-level real time advisories for aqua-farmers and alerts on climatic phenomenon in the future.

A digital common platform on the health status of wetlands of the country could easily help understand such vulnerable regions, he added.

The initiative of monitoring the wetlands is carried out by the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project wing of the CMFRI.