Category Technology

That’s some SMART-1 work!

Launched on September 27, 2003, the lunar probe named SMART-1 was the European Space Agency’s (ESA) first mission to the moon. Apart from investigating the moon and studying its surface composition, the spacecraft was used to demonstrate techniques pertaining to navigation and mission control. A.S. Ganesh takes a look at the mission and its success

We might have over 200 natural satellites in the solar system, but our own moon is rather special to us. And it has to be, for it is the only one our Earth has. Naturally then, it has been studied extensively – probably only next to the Earth itself among celestial bodies.

While the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th Century probably saw the most funds being spent in a single window towards moon missions, it wasn’t the be all and end all. There have been several missions since then, and there will be many more as well, that will have our moon as its target. Its position – both in terms of importance and in terms of space – make it an ideal destination for testing out new technologies as well.

Missions of all scales

The ESA prides itself in having a science programme that encompasses missions of all scales and sizes. The SMART – short for Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology – programme was envisioned to cater to small relatively low-cast missions. One such mission that looked to test solar-electric propulsion and other deep space technologies was launched on September 27, 2003. Its destination, as you might have rightly guessed, was the moon.

With a French-built Hall effect thruster derived from a Russian ion propulsion system, SMART-1 was European in almost every sense, even before it became the first European spacecraft to enter orbit around the moon. The thruster, which used a xenon propellant, generated just enough thrust – comparable to the weight of a postcard. Solar arrays powered the engine which generated the power needed for the ion engines.

Slowly expanding orbit

Following its launch, it was put in a geostationary transfer orbit. From here, SMART-1 used its electric propulsion system for a hugely efficient mission profile. Spinning slowly, the spacecraft moved onto higher and higher elliptical orbits. With mission controllers in Darmstadt, Germany forcing calculated, repeated burns of the ion engine, the spacecraft’s spiral orbit expanded step by step.

When SMART-1 was around 2,00,000 km out from Earth, the influence of the moon’s gravity started increasing. By November 2004, the spacecraft had reached a point where the moon’s gravitational force was dominant.

Closer views, better data

The ion engines were still fired gradually, even after SMART-1 attained a polar orbit around the moon. This allowed the spacecraft to now decrease the orbit and hence achieve significantly better and closer views of the lunar surface.

During its time orbiting the moon, SMART-1 improved on data returned from various previous missions to the moon. It studied lunar topography, learnt more about the moon’s surface texture and also mapped the minerals’ surface distribution.

Mission extended

Even though the mission was designed to end in August 2005, it was extended further with new plans for a lunar impact in 2006. Having exhausted the propellant, the spacecraft’s ion engine was fired one last time in September 2005, after which it was in a natural orbit based on the gravitational effects of the moon, Earth and sun, with occasional altitude control. SMART-1’s ion engine had fired for over 4,900 hours, a record at that time for an engine of this type.

As per the revised plan, the spacecraft crashed onto the moon’s surface on September 3, 2006. Earth-based telescopes observed the impact, which produced a dust cloud. The near three-year existence of SMART-1 not only confirmed technical competence, but also provided valuable scientific insights about our moon.

 

Picture Credit : Google

How to start your own vlog?

Since the commencement of the lockdown, there has been an increase in the number of channels on video hosting sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. Videos posted on these channels are called ‘vlogs’. A vlog is a portmanteau of “video” and “blog”. It is a form of blog where the medium of sharing views is video, instead of text.

Usually, a vlog means to take a video of yourself speaking about some topic and posting it on your blog. But today, with the rise in video hosting sites, the term has expanded to include any kind of videos hosted on such sites, with or without text.

A person who vlogs is called a vlogger.

Types of vlogs

Most vlogs found online can be broadly categorized into two types – personal vlogs and live broadcast vlogs.

Personal vlogs are the ones where people talk about different aspects relating to a main topic. These include beauty vlogs and travel vlogs.

These videos are usually recorded beforehand, and edited and uploaded at a suitable time. You can find personal vlogs all over the Internet.

On the other hand, live broadcast vlogs are videos aired live. A vlogger usually hosts a live video on the site and speaks spontaneously to a live audience. These vlogs remain on the site for about 24 hours after which they disappear. However, vloggers can save these vlogs and upload them later.

Some popular vloggers

There are millions of vloggers on the Internet, hosting vlogs on diverse topics. While some of them vlog for fun, some take it up as a career and make money through brand collaborations and monetization policies of websites. One of the most popular vloggers is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, whose YouTibe channel, PewDiePie, has over 100 million subscribers. He vlogs on gaming, comedy, satire and more.

Ryan’s Toy Reviews featuring 8-year-old Ryan Kaji is another popular YouTube channel with over 26 million subscribers. Ryan is one of the highest earning YouTubers. He usually reviews toys from around the world.

Starting your own vlog

If you are interested in starting a vlog, here are a few tips:

Talk to your parents

Share your interest with your parents and seek their support in helping you start a vlog. It is always helpful to have an adult around. They can also help you with ideas.

Decide on a topic

This is most important. Even before you pick up the camera and start vlogging, you need to decide on a topic. Topic can vary from travel, to food, to even Do-It-Yourself crafts. This is what will give your channel direction and set it apart from others.

Decide on equipment

Most professional vloggers invest in a camera and lights. However, since you are just starting out, you can use natural lightning and a smartphone camera. Just ensure the camera is not shaky and the audio is clear, as it can get very disturbing for the viewer otherwise.

Choose a video hosting platform

Now that you have decided on a topic and have your equipment in place, it’s time to decide on a video hosting platform. While YouTube is the most popular, there are other platforms such as Vimeo too. Do your research and see what suits you best.

Viewing rights and monetization

Before you upload your video, decide on who gets to view your content. If you are creating content only for family members and friends, you can make the video private and share the link with them. However, if you wish to monetize your content, making your videos public is a better option.

 

Picture Credit : Google

What is Digital Electronics?

DIGITAL ELECTRONICS

In many electronic circuits, such as those in radios, the current can be of any strength. These circuits are called analogue circuits. In digital circuits, the current can have only two strengths – on and off. Digital circuits are used in devices in which the flow of electricity represents information, such as computers.

Numbers are represented in digital circuits using the binary number system. This uses only the digits 0 and 1 and so can easily be represented in electronic circuits by turning currents on or off. In the decimal system (numbers we use in everyday life: 1, 2, 3, etc.), the digits of a number represent ones, tens, hundreds and so on. In the binary system, the digits represent ones, twos, fours, eights and so on. In digital circuits, each 0 or 1 is called a bit. A four-bit binary “word” can represent decimal numbers up to 15 (one 8, one 4, one 2 and one 1).

Almost any sort of information (from simple letters to complex moving images) can be represented by numbers, which in turn can be represented in binary form. This means that any sort of information can be represented in digital electronic circuits. Computers rely on this fact to store numbers, words, pictures and sounds. They use circuits called logic circuits to process and manipulate the information.

Many types of analogue information must to be turned into digital form before they can be handled by digital circuits. This process is called digitization. For example, in a microphone, a sound, which is created by waves of air pressure, is turned into a changing electric current, called an analogue signal that represents the changes in pressure. This is turned into a digital signal by an electronic circuit called an analogue-to-digital converter. It repeatedly measures the analogue signal, turning it into a continuous stream of binary numbers.

In telephone systems, the sound of your voice is digitized, normally at the telephone exchange, before it travels across the telephone network. Before it arrives at the telephone of the person you are talking to, it is turned back to an analogue signal (which is needed to work the speaker) by a digital-to-analogue converter. The same thing happens in a CD player, because sound is recorded in digital form on a CD.

The pixel code is stored as a binary number, which, inside the computer, exists as electrical signals. 1 means an electrical pulse, 0 means no electrical pulse.

DIGITAL PICTURES

Anything that appears on a computer’s monitor is called computer graphics. These can be as simple as plain white text on a black screen, or as complicated as animated three-dimensional images. Whatever the graphics are, they are made up of small coloured squares called pixels (short for picture elements) in a grid pattern.

The concentration of pixels in a picture is called resolution. High-resolution graphics can be viewed on a large screen without the pixels being visible. Graphics can have a different range of colours, too. In eight-bit graphics, each pixel is represented by eight bits, and so can be any one of 256 colours.

Picture Credit : Google

What are Integrated Circuits?

INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

Single electronic components are normally soldered (connected by metal) on to a circuit board by their legs. Metal tracks on the board connect the components together. Circuits that require hundreds or thousands of components would be enormous. Modern circuits use integrated circuits, or microchips, in which microscopically small components and the connections between them are built into a wafer of semiconductor material, which is normally silicon. This is why integrated circuits are often called silicon chips. There are thousands of different integrated circuits. Some, such as amplifier chips or timing chips, contain a few dozen components. Others, such as computer processors or memory chips, contain hundreds of thousands or even millions.

The first integrated circuit was built in 1959 in the USA by Texas Instruments. Since then the number of components that can be fitted on to a chip has increased rapidly. An integrated circuit starts life as thin wafer of semiconductor material. The components are built into it by adding and removing layers of semiconductor material, conductors and insulators, using complex chemical and photographic processes.

Picture Credit : Google

What do you understand about Electronics?

ELECTRONICS

Electrons are tiny particles that are parts of atoms. An electric current is a flow of electrons. Electronics is the study of how electrons behave and how they can be controlled so that they can do useful jobs. Nearly all the machines we use in our everyday lives – from radios, calculators and television remote controls to telephones, computers and cars – contain electronic circuits that make them work. Electronics are especially important in information technology and communications.

The study of electronics began at the end of the nineteenth century, and had its first practical use in the early 20th century in the development of radio communications. The first electronic devices were called thermionic valves. These included the diode valve, which allowed current to flow through it one way but not the other, and the triode, in which a small current could be used to control a much larger current. The parts of thermionic valves, some of which glowed red hot, had to be enclosed in a glass tube with the air removed to create a vacuum.

In the 1950s valves were quickly replaced by semiconductor devices. A semiconductor is a material that can act as both a good conductor of electricity and an insulator. Semiconductor devices are much simpler, smaller and more reliable than valves.

A thermionic triode valve was designed to amplify (strengthen) electric signals. A central electrode is heated inside a glass tube. Electrons flow from it to another, outer electrode. A small electric signal causes large changes to this electron flow, producing a more powerful electric signal.

There are dozens of different electronic components, but the most common ones are resistors, capacitors, diodes and transistors. A resistor restricts the flow of current in a circuit. Capacitors store electric charge. Current can flow into them until they are full, and out of them until they are empty. A diode allows current to flow one way but not the other. A transistor can act as a switch or an amplifier. It has three connections. The current flowing between two connections is controlled by a tiny current flowing into the third.

An electronic circuit is made up of components linked together by wires around which an electric current flows. By combining different components and connecting them in different ways, it is possible to make electronic circuits which do almost any job. In an electronic circuit, the components of the circuit itself control the current. For example, in a security light, the electric current is turned on or off by an electronic device that detects whether it is dark and whether anybody is moving nearby.

Picture Credit : Google

Couney and the carnival babies

Do you know what the meaning of pre-term birth is? A human child birth that occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy is referred to this way. While a full-term pregnancy normally lasts 40 weeks, not all children are born that way. Premature babies – babies born pre-term – often need longer and more intense nursery care. While this is the norm now with Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), it wasn’t always the case. We have Martin Couney, a pioneer of early neonatal technology, to thank for that.

A little history before we take a look at what Couney did. By the end of the 19th Century, it was pretty clear to doctors that babies born pre-term needed extra care and often had complications. Incubators had been built and the first one to care for an infant was operational in 1888. On September 7 that year, Edith Eleanor McLean became one of the first babies to be placed in an incubator in a hospital in New York. These incubators, however, were seen more as medical curiosities and not much was done in terms of adoption.

First encounter

In that same year, French physician Pierre Budin, who had been wondering why more hospitals weren’t investing in incubators, began experimenting with the technology. Facing financial difficulties in terms of funding, Budin decided to display his incubators at the Berlin’s World Fair in 1896.

It was at this fair that Couney, Budin’s protege, was drawn towards what was to become a lifetime’s obsession. Budin’s display included premature babies acquired on loan from a hospital and Couney immediately realised that it would work. He was certain that the public would pay to see babies in incubators and that he would in turn be able to save the babies’ lives.

Couney travelled with his ideas to the U.S. and put it into practice. He picked the right place to serve as America was severely lagging behind European nations, which had France at the forefront, in neonatal care. He married Annabelle Segner, one of his nurses, in 1903 and his commitment to the cause was furthered when they had a pre-term daughter in 1907. Hildegarde, who was six week premature and weighed just 1.36 kg at birth, later joined her father’s business after training as a nurse.

Couney’s magic at Coney

If we had visited Coney Islands during the turn of the 20th Century, we would have been spoilt for choice. We could have tried out a roller-coaster, witnessed the re-enactment of the Boer War or simply waded in the water while eating an ice cream. Yet, one of the most popular permanent exhibits was Couney’s facility.

With signs so large they could be seen from the other end of the island, Couney’s facility played host to a life-and-death exercise. People, however, were willing to witness this freak show as they paid the 25-cent entrance fee to see the display of premature babies placed in incubators. A guard rail prevented over-enthusiastic visitors from getting too close.

The entrance fee allowed Couney to cover all his costs as he went about his task admirably. At a time when hospitals across the country were turning away from their responsibility of caring for premature babies, Couney welcomed them with open arms.

The incubator doctor

He not only hired the best doctors and nurses to take care of the babies, but he also accepted babies from all backgrounds. He never once saw their colour or class, nor did he ever accept payments from parents. Distressed, desperate parents were soon flocking to “the incubator doctor”, who then worked his magic.

Despite the fact that Couney wasn’t a trained medical practitioner, his methods started gaining traction. His facility in Coney Islands ran from 1903-1943 and he was able to replicate his success in other facilities he established as well.

Even though doctors were sceptical about Couney’s ways and even tried to discredit him, there was no denying that it was working. While there is no way to authenticate the numbers, there is reason to believe that Couney took in around 8,000 babies during the course of his career and was able to save about 6,500 of them. By the 1940s, neonatal care started becoming mainstream.

Incubators have come a long way since the time Couney had to showcase babies in them in carnivals. NICUs are now state-of-the-art in many hospitals, providing exclusive care for babies. Incubators these days protect preterm babies from infections, excessive noise or light. They also provide automatic adjustments based on the baby’s temperature and photo-therapy using special lights to treat neonatal jaundice, which is becoming increasingly common. And it all started with one man who believed he could make a difference.

 

Picture Credit : Google