News Analysis India

Tag: Nasa

  • Kashmiri Techie Enters NASA’s ‘Hall of Fame’ For Cybersecurity Achievements |

    Kulgam: A techie from the Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir has entered NASA’s ‘Hall of Fame’ after identifying vulnerabilities leading to data breaches in its system. Twenty-two-year-old cybersecurity researcher Munib Amin Bhatt achieved this feat after making it to Apple’s ‘Hall of Fame’ in 2023 by reporting vulnerabilities in Apple systems. Munib was also honored with an award by Apple for his contributions.

    Muneeb, a resident of Zungalpora village in Kulgam, South Kashmir, reported his findings under NASA’s Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP). This program facilitates the awareness of otherwise unknown vulnerabilities to the US agency. Due to VDP guidelines, Munib cannot disclose the specifics of the external vulnerabilities in the NASA system. However, he mentioned that it involved sensitive data exposure.

    Muneeb Amin Bhatt said, “I was inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ by Apple in 2023. They allowed me to ethically hack their systems to investigate vulnerabilities and report them. They later validated and accepted my findings, adding my name to their ‘Hall of Fame’. Recently, I did the same for NASA, found some vulnerabilities, and reported them. NASA accepted my findings and inducted me into their Hall of Fame. I am extremely happy and proud to help security organizations secure their data.”

    Over the past few years, Muneeb has been working tirelessly, identifying vulnerabilities in many organizations. For his efforts, he has received millions of dollars in awards and recognition in various Halls of Fame. He has ethically hacked and secured many international organizations, including Oracle, McDonald’s, Intel, USAA, Indeed, and many others.

    “Many organizations around the world improve their security by calling on ethical hackers to help them keep their data safe. They have their own cybersecurity teams, but to ensure complete safety, they invite hackers to investigate their systems. That is why we are invited, and we investigate and report on vulnerabilities. I am extremely happy that my name has been listed in the Hall of Fame,” said Muneeb Ahmad Bhat.

    Muneeb is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) degree from IGNOU, having started this after dropping out of a B.Tech program at a private engineering college in Kashmir.

  • FM has more interest in Uranus, Pluto than taking measures to tackle inflation: Congress

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday hit out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying she is more interested in Uranus and Pluto than in steering the country’s economy towards recovery.

    A day after the government released its inflation data, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said the finance minister was busy tweeting pictures from NASA’s webb telescope rather than explaining to the country how she planned to rein in inflationary trends.

    Sitharaman had on Tuesday retweeted images unveiled by the NASA from its new powerful space telescope.

    Vallabh also accused the Modi government of polarising society and creating disharmony instead of tackling rising inflation, unemployment and the depreciating Rupee.

    The Congress leader said with such data on rising inflation, it was expected that the finance minister would come out with a plan on how to tackle inflation, but she has different priorities.

    “She has an interest in Pluto, Jupiter and Uranus. Unfortunately, our finance minister is showing the way to Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter and is unable to show the way forward to our economy,” he told reporters.

    “It has become very evident in the last eight years where the focus of the BJP government has been. Polarisation and disharmony have taken a front seat whereas distressing issues such as rising inflation, unemployment and depreciating Rupee are nowhere on its agenda. The country witnessed the highest unemployment in the last 45 years,” he alleged.

    Vallabh also alleged that the BJP has brought about a “doom with 7s”, with retail inflation at 7.01 percent, unemployment at 7.8 percent and the Rupee depreciated 7 percent in the last six months vs the US Dollar.

    “While these are worrying data points, the BJP government is in deep slumber,” he said.

    “What has the government done to bring relief to the common Indian as far as inflation is concerned,” he asked, noting that increasing GST on items such as flour will only propel inflation.

    The Congress leader also asked why there is a complete silence on part of the Modi Government on the issue of tackling a barrage of macro-economic indicators going wrong.

    With the RBI’s projection for inflation at 7.4 percent for the next quarter, he asked what are measures that the government has in mind.

    “Any government can bring relief to the common mass only when sympathy leads over apathy. The ED and CBI are not tools that bring relief. Unless the BJP government moves beyond petty politics and starts looking beyond ED politics, common Indians will continue suffering,” he alleged.

  • Indo-US joint space mission satellite to come to India soon

    Express News Service

    BENGALURU: The payload integration of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) joint space mission, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, has been completed and set to undergo testing soon, Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the NASA Science Mission Director, said here on Wednesday.

    The joint mission, whose aim to is be an earth observation satellite, has been years in the making and has a tentative launch date some time in 2023. When launched and in operation, NISAR will be the first radar imaging satellite using dual frequencies, and will be used for remote sensing to observe natural processes on Earth — including natural disasters and ones occurring due to climate change or natural disturbances. The satellite developed at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion is also set to be the world’s most expensive earth-imaging satellite.

    The key point for the mission is that data collected will be available within hours of natural disasters occurring to help provide information for disaster management among other uses. With payload integration completed for the satellite and testing to be done soon in the US, the complete machinery will be sent to India later this year to be integrated with ISRO’s Geotationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark- II, which will launch the satellite into space.

    “The main goal is to be able to distribute the data we get directly to the people, so that there can be direct and on-ground applications that the mission helps,” Dr Karen St Germain, director of the Earth Science Division, Science Mission Directorate at NASA, told TNIE. Dr St Germain and Dr Zurbuchen were speaking at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, on Wednesday.

  • Pete Davidson headed to space on Blue Origin craft

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: Pete Davidson is heading to space. The “Saturday Night Live” star is among the six passengers on the next launch of Jeff Bezos’ space travel venture Blue Origin, the company announced Monday.

    The launch is scheduled for March 23 and Davidson will be the third celebrity on a Blue Origin flight. William Shatner was on a flight in October, blasting off from West Texas and reaching a height of roughly 66 miles above Earth on the 10-minute jaunt.

    Former NFL great and “Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan flew on Blue Origin’s second passenger flight in December, joining astronaut Alan Shepard’s daughter on the journey. Bezos, the founder of Amazon, flew on the company’s first passenger flight last July.

    The other passengers on next week’s flight are CEO and investor Marty Allen; Sharon and Marc Hagle; teacher and entrepreneur Jim Kitchen and George Nield, a former NASA manager who has worked to promote commercial spaceflight.

    Marc Hagle is CEO of the commercial and residential property company Tricor International. His wife, Sharon Hagle, founded SpaceKids Global, a nonprofit aimed at inspiring children about spaceflight.

    Blue Origin flights give passengers a few minutes of weightlessness above the Earth’s surface before the capsule parachutes and lands in the West Texas desert. The company has not disclosed the ticket price for paying customers.

    Davidson, who is currently dating reality star Kim Kardashian, wrote and starred in the semi-autobiographical film “The King of Staten Island,” which was released in 2020.

  • Halle Berry-starrer ‘Moonfall’ to release in India on Feb 11

    By IANS

    MUMBAI: Director Roland Emmerich upcoming science-fiction film ‘Moonfall’ is all set to hit the Indian screens on February 11.The Halle Berry- starrer follows the story of former NASA astronaut Jo Fowler, who can prove to be earth’s last chance when the moon is on a deadly collision course with the planet. With the apocalypse approaching and no support from the authorities, she only has a former colleague and a conspiracy theorist to fall back on. What happens next forms the crux of the thrilling film.Talking about bringing the epic Sci-Fi saga to Indian screens, Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR Pictures, says: “May it be Godzilla or 2012, Roland Emmerich is known for his larger than life blockbusters, and PVR is elated to be bringing his upcoming release to India. Moonfall is a grand entertainer filled with awe inspiring imagery”.He further adds: “Rolland Emmerich’s films have been huge successes in India, and Halle Berry has a huge fan base here too, audiences have a lot to be excited about this February.” Apart from Berry, the film also features ‘The Conjuring’ star Patrick Wilson and Micheal PeAa among others. It will be dubbed and released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages as well.PVR Pictures and MVP Entertainment released ‘Moonfall’, directed by Roland Emmerich, starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Michael PeAa, and Donald Sutherland, released on February 11, 2022. 

  • New film studio to be built in space by 2024

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Space Entertainment Enterprise (S.E.E), the company co-producing Tom Cruise’s upcoming space movie, plans to launch a sports arena and production studio in space by 2024.

    S.E.E. has unveiled plans to build a space station module that contains a sports and entertainment arena as well as a content studio by December 2024, reports variety.com.

    Named SEE-1, the module is intended to host films, television, music, and sports events as well as artists, producers, and creatives who want to make content in the low orbit, micro-gravity environment. The facilities will enable the development, production, recording, broadcasting, and live streaming of content.

    S.E.E. intends to produce its own content and events in the module as well as make it available to third-parties.

    Axiom Space, who in January 2022 won NASA’s approval to build a commercial component of the International Space Station (ISS), will undertake the construction of SEE-1. The module will dock on Axiom’s commercial arm, named Axiom Station, which will also host other commercial ventures, including space tourism.

    ALSO READ: European Space Agency could recruit astronauts with physical disabilities

    Axiom Station will then separate from the ISS in 2028. S.E.E., which was co-founded in the UK by entrepreneurs and producers Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky, is currently planning a fundraising round.

    “SEE-1 is an incredible opportunity for humanity to move into a different realm and start an exciting new chapter in space,” said Dmitry and Elena Lesnevsky in a statement.

    “It will provide a unique, and accessible home for boundless entertainment possibilities in a venue packed with innovative infrastructure which will unleash a new world of creativity. With worldwide leader Axiom Space building this cutting-edge, revolutionary facility, SEE-1 will provide not only the first but also the supreme quality space structure enabling the expansion of the two trillion-dollar global entertainment industry into low-Earth orbit.”

    “Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station, is designed as the foundational infrastructure enabling a diverse economy in orbit,” said Michael Suffredini, president/CEO of Axiom Space.

    “Adding a dedicated entertainment venue to Axiom Station’s commercial capabilities in the form of SEE-1 will expand the station’s utility as a platform for a global user base and highlight the range of opportunities the new space economy offers.”

    “SEE-1 will showcase and leverage the space environment in an unprecedented way,” Axiom chief engineer Dr Michael Baine said. “The inflatable module design provides for around six meters diameter of unobstructed pressurized volume, which can be adapted to a range of activities – including an onboard state-of-the-art media production capability that will capture and convey the experience of weightlessness with breathtaking impact.”

    Richard Johnston, COO of S.E.E. added: “From Jules Verne to ‘Star Trek,’ science fiction entertainment has inspired millions of people around the world to dream about what the future might bring. Creating a next-generation entertainment venue in space opens countless doors to create incredible new content and make these dreams a reality.”

  • Tom Cruise gets sneak peek of this from SpaceX’s first private crew

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Hollywood star Tom Cruise got a sneak peek at what it’s like to circle Earth in a SpaceX capsule. The actor recently took part in a call with the company’s four space tourists orbiting more than 360 miles up.

    According To Fox News, representatives for SpaceX’s first privately chartered flight revealed on Friday about Cruise’s call. The conversation, between the actor and the space tourists, like the entire three-day flight, was private and hence no details were released.

    “Maverick, you can be our wingman anytime,” read the announcement from the flight’s Twitter feed. Cruise has starred as Navy pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the 1986 film ‘Top Gun’. A sequel for the superhit movie will be coming out next year.

    Last year, NASA had confirmed it was in talks with Cruise about visiting the International Space Station for filming. SpaceX would provide the lift, as it does for NASA astronauts, and like it did on Wednesday night for the billionaire and Space X founder Elon Musk, who was up there with his two contest winners and a hospital worker.

    As per Fox News, until this all-amateur crew, relatively few NASA astronauts have soared that high. The most recent were the shuttle astronauts who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope over multiple flights in the 1990s and 2000s.

    Besides talking space with Cruise, the four capsule passengers chatted with young cancer patients. Hayley Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor, led the conversation from orbit with patients from the hospital that saved her life almost 20 years ago, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. 

  • ISRO Instrumentation team in JPL for NISAR mission with NASA

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: The ISRO instrument team is at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology) intergrating their portion of the instrument with the JPL portion, said Swati Mohan, Guidance, Navigation, and Control Systems Engineering Group Supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, on Wednesday.

    Talking about the the ISRO – NASA collaboration on NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), She was addressing the first ‘Diaspora Diplomacy’ talk organised by the US Consulate General, Chennai.

    In summer or the month of June, the whole instrument and the JPL team will come to ISRO in India to integrate it with the spacecraft and launch from India, she said. JPL has projected launch year as 2023.

    NISAR mission will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses providing information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, and will support a host of other application, as per JPL.Further on the NASA ISRO collaborations, Swati pointed out to earlier partnerships that included, “JPL delivering an instrument for the Chandrayaan mission, and helped with naviagation design for the mission.”

    She hoped that the NASA-ISRO partnerships trend continues to grow in the future.

  • Enroute Mars: Check out this sister-duo’s ‘boarding pass’ for journey to red planet

    Express News Service
    DEHRADUN: These two sisters were fortunate enough to score online boarding passes to Mars. Shivani Mishra (26) and Himani Mishra (22) had their names carried across the globe by the Perseverance rover which landed on the Red planet on Friday. 

    Their names were included in a microchip along with 10.9 million others from across the world, that was sent in the rover by National Aeronautical Space Agency (NASA) to Mars.

    Shivani, the older sister who is researching the effects of cosmic rays on the earth’s various facets said, “We are absolutely thrilled. Our happiness knew no bounds when we got to know that we are among the fortunate whose names will be carried to the Mars.”

    The agency in 2019 had invited applications, which they applied to. Following this, online boarding passes were issued to both the sisters.

    Himani, an ardent fan of George Orwell, has completed MSc in Physics and is set to join research following the footsteps of her sister. She said, “The landing of the Perseverance is another giant leap for the mankind. We hope that one day living on Mars will be a reality.”

    Daughters of an associate professor in a government degree college of Haldwani, the duo had an academic bend of kind from the start.

    Santosh Mishra, who is an associate professor of Hindi in Motiram Baburam Postgraduate College, Haldwani in Nainital district said, “My daughters were always encouraged to have scientific temper and prove things before blindly believing or trusting. Our Constitution also enshrines the spirit of promoting scientific temper. As a parent we should be doing that only.”

    The sisters have also uploaded a Youtube video explaining how one can send their names for upcoming Mars mission too. 

    This is the fourth Rover to land in the Red Planet. Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity were previous rover missions to the Red Planet

  • Indian student among winners of NASA app development challenge

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A high school student from Gurugram, Aryan Jain, is among the winners of an app development challenge organised by NASA.

    Aryan Jain is amongst the winners of NASA’s Artemis Next-Gen STEM – Moon to Mars App Development Challenge this year, according to a release.

    A student of SunCity School, Gurugram (Haryana), he had teamed up with six high school students from the US.

    The competition is a coding challenge in which NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) presents technical problems to high school students and seeks their contributions to deep space exploration missions.

    The six-member team developed an app using the cross-platform game engine Unity and programmed it in C#.

    By participating in the challenge, the students took part in the Artemis Generation endeavours to land astronauts — including the first woman and the next man — on the Moon by 2024, as per the release.

    In this year’s challenge, organised by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Team, the participants were required to develop an app to visualise the Lunar South Pole to assist in mission planning and exploration activities.