SCIENCE FRONTIERS

THE SECOND SPACE RACE

Man last walked on the moon was in 1972. The United States of America
and the Sov iet Union at that time were emb roiled in a v ery b itter and v iciou s cold
war. B oth su p er p owers in their sp irit of su rp assing the other had g one on in a
sp ace race that had ex p anded the frontiers of the sp ace technolog y and
astronomy . This had thu s tu rned ou t to b e an adv antag e to the scientific world.

This fig ht for su p eriority b etween the United States and the Sov iet Union in
the field of sp ace research like in many other fields help ed man in the conq u est
of the sp ace and ou ter sp ace. R u ssian sp ace ship , Sp u tnik took man to the ou ter
sp ace arou nd the E arth. Soon, the United States of America p rov ed its mig ht b y
landing on the Moon. L ater, the interest in the sp ace research died down and
b oth the su p er p owers cooled down in their enthu siasm for fu nding the sp ace
race. Soon, other cou ntries took initiativ e in sp ace research. E u rop ean cou ntries
comb ined their efforts for j oint sp ace research. O nce dev elop ing cou ntries like
C hina and I ndia are now b eg inning to show interest in sp ace research and
indu lg ing in a mini sp ace race reminiscent of the USA-USSR sp ace race of the
195 0 s and 196 0 s. B oth cou ntries are now looking to land on the Moon. C hina
sent a man to sp ace in 20 0 3 . The United States of America is p lanning to send a
manned p rob e to the moon b y 20 20 and a manned p rob e to Mars b y 20 3 0 .

The Sov iet Union sent a man, Y u ri G arg arin, to the sp ace in 196 1, cap p ing
its lead of sending of dog L aika to sp ace in 195 7 in su ccession to lau nching of the
world’ s first artificial satellite, Sp u tnik-1 in the same y ear. The world was deep ly
imp ressed b y the technolog ical su p eriority of the Sov iet Union ov er that of the
United States of America. The P resident of the United States at that time, J ohn F .
K ennedy , was determined to do some thing in time and in the famou s sp eech in
May 196 1 b efore a sp ecial j oint session of the United States C ong ress p romised
that the United States wou ld land a man on the moon and retu rn him safely within
a decade. I t was ab le to accomp lish this within eig ht y ears in 196 9. A few day s
b efore the United States sent the astronau ts, N eil Armstrong and “ B u z z ” Aldrin to
the moon b y Ap ollo 11, the Sov iet Union sent a sp acecraft L u na-15 to the moon
on a failed mission. That was the last heard of attemp t of the Sov iet Union to
challeng e the su p eriority of the United States of America.

W hy the Sov iet Union that had a clear lead in the sp ace race in 196 1 ov er
the United States of America, su rrendered to the latter so easily and comp letely ?
The answer as N ASA rev ealed is that the Sov iet Union was nev er on sp ace race,
and whatev er stu p endou s accomp lishments it had till 196 1 were p art and
ex tensions of its p assion for missiles researches in su p p ort of its war indu stry .
The indifference of the Sov iet au thorities to the sp ace race in contrast to the
interest and g enu ine p rog ress made b y the Sov iet Union scientists du lled the
edg e of the Sov iet Union su p eriority in sp ace technolog y ov er time. O n the other
hand, the United States took the 196 1 accomp lishments of the Sov iet Union as a
challeng e and sp ared no attemp ts to ex cel in the area to p rov e its mettle and
world leadership . N ASA was formed and all financial constraints were waiv ed for
adv ancement in the area. The United States made g reat strides since then. I n
contrast, the sp ace scientists of the Sov iet Union faced hu rdles of all kinds
inclu ding financial constraints and lack of p olitical b acking .

The b eg inning of the 21st centu ry marks the start of the second Sp ace
race in the world. This time arou nd, this sp ace race is likely to b e b etween the
United States and C hina as R u ssia is y et to wake u p from its sp ace slu mb er, and
drawing larg e amou nt of attention throu g hou t the world. C hina, as the United
States of America has g ot q u ite a b ig b u ffer b etween thinking and acting in the
form of democratic g ov ernance and C ong ress, has an edg e in mov ing with the
req u isite sp ace p rog rammes.

P erhap s, C hina may su ccessfu lly land a man on the moon b efore the
United States p lans for the 20 20 landing . I ndia too is not far b ehind. I t has
howev er g ot to sp eed u p its sp ace p rog rammes. I ndia needs to p u ll u p its socks
to do q u ite an imp ressiv e j ob in the race.

SPACE SHUTTLE PROBES

Since the b eg inning of mankind, man has alway s wanted to find ou t the
tru th of the world arou nd. As he discov ered more and more tru ths, the horiz ons of
his activ ities ex p anded ex p onentially and he encou ntered more p rob lems and
riddles along the p ath. H e tried to solv e them and has alway s su cceeded in
doing so. H is u nq u enchab le cu riosity was his forte. N ot that those tru ths were
rev ealed to him all of su dden. H e discov ered them in stag es, often ru nning for
centu ries or millenniu ms to arriv e at the final tru th. F or ex amp le, his first
p ercep tion ab ou t the world he liv es in was that the Su n, moon and stars rev olv ed
arou nd the E arth and the E arth was the centre of the Univ erse. H e continu ed with
this b elief for centu ries till he discov ered that the E arth rev olv es arou nd the Su n.

I n the p rocess of his endeav ou rs to discov er the tru th of the world, he

inv ented u mp teen tools like telescop es and sp acecrafts to help him in his p rob es.
Sp acecrafts take him to ou ter sp ace to collect data. Sp ace Shu ttles are the latest
v ersion of the sp acecrafts dev ised b y the United States. They ap art from carry ing
astronau ts and scientists to the ou ter sp ace eng ag e them in difficu lt manoeu v res
there and b ring them b ack to the E arth. Another imp ortant featu re of these sp ace
shu ttles is that they can b e reu sed once they retu rns to the E arth like any other
transp ort facility . N ot that mankind has reached p erfection in this wonderfu l
technolog y . Sometimes b ack, the United States of America lau nched a Sp ace
Shu ttle to the ou ter sp ace with astronau ts on scientific assig nments. The Sp ace
Shu ttle disinteg rated on the way down while entering the E arth’ s atmosp here and
all the astronau ts were killed. Su ch terrib le losses are p arts of the p rog ress and
man has lots to cov er in the p rocess of discov ering the tru ths arou nd him.
COSMIC COLLISION

O n the fou rth of J u ly in 20 0 5 , while the United States of America was

celeb rating its N ational D ay , D eep in sp ace, the comet, N ASA targ eted a comet
known asTemp el-1 with a man made ob j ect as p art of its D eep I mp act Sp ace
Mission to stu dy the comp osition and orig in of comets as well as of the Univ erse.
The imp act was p hotog rap hed from the sp acecraft that was on the mission and
ob serv ed throu g h sp ace telescop es as well as from the ob serv atories on the
E arth, and rev ealed b rig ht sp ray of fine du sts from the site of the imp act on the
comet. The crater formed b y the imp act was arou nd 20 0 meters in diameter and
4 0 meters deep and contained fine du st p articles of carb onates, silicates, su lfides
and hy drocarb ons.

The comet, Temp el-1, which was discov ered on Ap ril 3 , 18 6 7 b y W ilhelm
Temp el, an astronomer working in Marseille was fou nd orb iting arou nd the Su n
once ev ery fiv e and a half y ears. This collision was desig ned to stu dy the
comp osition of comets and how the world came into ex istence. Also in issu e in
the ob j ectiv es of the D eep I mp act P rob e was whether the B ig B ang theory really
holds g ood or not. The P rob e sends b ack reading s and other data b ack to the
E arth for the analy sis of scientists.

Temp el 1 will come to v iew ag ain in 20 11. N ASA p lans to v isit and imp act
the comet ag ain then b y its Stardu st sp acecraft as an ex tended mission of the
D eep I mp act P rob e to stu dy chang es in the crater created in 20 0 5 and make
fu rther detailed and deep er stu dies of the crater for b etter u nderstanding of the
Univ erse.

PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Mankind has b een on this earth for a v ery long time and has alway s b een
cu riou s. P eop le hav e died ex p loring new areas and ideas. The resu lt is the
p resence of man in all continents and in all corners on the su rface of the E arth.
N o area on the E arth remains u nknown or u nfamiliar any more. N atu rally , cu riou s
as he is alway s, he started looking b ey ond the E arth towards the sp ace. P lanets
and stars attracted his attention. H e trav eled in the sp ace in 195 0 s and landed on
the Moon in 196 0 s. P lanets of the Solar sy stem that he ob serv ed with naked ey es
and b y telescop es from centu ries are p rimed as the nex t targ et of man and his
u nab ated cu riosity . H e wants to land there and coloniz e them for his b enefits if he
can. The effort warrants detailed information the p lanets and the sp ace he is to
cov er reach there and the hu rdles and p rob lems to b e encou ntered du ring the
endeav or.

I n sp ite of tremendou s p rog ress made b y the commu nity of scientists in

this direction, lots need to b e done and req u ire time, fu nds and sy nerg y among
top scientists and ex p erts in v ariou s fields of science. They mu st fu rther stu dy
and analy z e and learn ab ou t v ariou s env ironment featu res of the ou ter sp ace that
y et remain incomp rehensib le to them. This will take a v ery long time.

The Solar Sy stem was traditionally held to contain nine p lanets namely
Mercu ry , V enu s, E arth, Mars, J u p iter, Satu rn, Uranu s, N ep tu ne and P lu to. Many
more b odies in the Solar Sy stem were discov ered and classified as non-p lanets
and a traditional p lanet of the Solar Sy stem namely P lu to was remov ed from the
p lanetary honou r and releg ated to the g rou p of non-p lanet land masses since
then as many of the newly discov ered land masses that were classified as non-
p lanets were fou nd to b e larg er than P lu to, the smallest traditional p lanet of the
Solar Sy stem. There is tremendou s confu sion among astronomers ab ou t the
concep t and definition of p lanets as different from non-p lanets and P lu to was
alway s in the ey e of the storm for a long time.

SOLAR ENERGY FROM SPACE

The world faces a v ery larg e energ y p rob lem. This is some thing that I ndia
esp ecially faces. The solu tion lies in u nconv entional sou rces of energ y ,
p articu larly harnessing energ y from the su n. This is a renewab le form of energ y ,
is nearly limitless and also is not p ollu ting at all and is the cau se of all forms of
energ y on the earth ap art from the nu clear energ y .

Solar E nerg y is taken for g ranted b y man b ecau se of its ab u ndance and
easy av ailab ility . The world u ses it in the form of solar cells p op u larly u sed in
traffic lig hts, for home u ses for heating p u rp oses, and in satellites as sou rces of
energ y . I n this, man is harnessing only a minu te fraction of the endless solar
energ y at his disp osal. R easons are many . D ay and nig ht cy cles, seasons,
g eog rap hical areas and clou ds make the av ailab ility of the solar energ y a time
dep endent p henomenon. I t cannot b e harnessed steadily and u niformly at all
hou rs at all p laces at the will of the u ser. This leads to the p rob lems of storag e of
the solar energ y . C omb ined with the low-intensity energ y p atterns of the solar
energ y , the p rob lems of the storag e render solar energ y economically
inconv enient enterp rise. I t is in this situ ation scientists thou g ht of harnessing
solar energ y from the ou ter sp ace.

C ontinu ou s and u ninterru p ted av ailab ility of the solar energ y in the ou ter
sp ace makes it ideal location for harnessing the solar energ y . Already , the
b enefits of the solar energ y in the ou ter sp ace are deriv ed for the energ y
req u irements of the sp ace ship s and satellites. H owev er, the p rob lem here is
reg arding transmission of the energ y so collected to the su rface of the E arth for
the hu man u se. R ig ht technolog ies are y et to b e dev ised for the p u rp ose and
scientists are on the j ob to b ring a rev olu tion in meeting the ev er-increasing
energ y req u irements of man.

A NEW COUSIN

The world was created with the B ig B ang ab ou t fou rteen b illions of y ears
b ack. After b illions of y ears of cooling from the B ig B ang , the Su n of ou r solar
sy stem came into b eing leading to the b irth of the E arth and other p lanets of the
solar sy stem. F or ap p rox imately fou r b illion y ears, the E arth remained withou t life
on the p lanet. The E arth was too hot and cooled down v ery slowly . L ife started on
the E arth with the sing le cell creatu res and ov er b illions of y ears ev olv ed to
comp licated p atterns of life cu lminating in the b irth of hu man b eing s in their
p resent form.

The first liv es on the E arth were water-b orn and aq u atic in natu re.
G radu ally , as the cells ev olv ed to comp licated p atterns on the comp u lsions of the
su rv iv al instincts and the needs of the adap tation to the env ironment, liv es
cap ab le of liv ing on land came into ex istence leading u ltimately to the b irth of
H omo sap iens.

H ome Sap iens is p rov ed to b e a v ery cu riou s sp ecies, eag er to discov er

and know ev ery thing arou nd it. C u riosity is its hallmark. This natu re led it to
discov er ev ery thing ab ou t the E arth it liv es on, the sp ace arou nd it and ev en
ab ou t the ou ter sp ace and p lanets and stars and the worlds b ey ond it. H e
b ecame cu riou s to know whether life like his own ex ists any where else ou tside in
worlds inv isib le to him. H e was cu riou s to know ab ou t his hu man cou sins and
how they liv e if they ex ist any where in any corner of the endless Univ erse.
Thou g h theories su rmise the p ossib ility of life and hu manlike sp ecies somewhere
in this endless Univ erse b ey ond hu man comp rehension, no emp irical ev idences
are av ailab le to p rov e or disp rov e it, and no su ch ev idences can b e accessed in
near fu tu re with the limits of the p resent scientific adv ancements in the
p ersp ectiv e of the hu man limits.

W hile man is looking to the O u ter Sp ace to trace his cou sins on the illu sion
that he has already conq u ered the E arth he liv es on in his thirst for knowing it
fu lly , he was in for a shock while he discov ered the ex istence of a new sp ecies,
H omo F loresiences, a cou sin of H ome Sap iens, in the island of R amp asasa in
I ndonesia, u ntil a few y ears b ack. L ocals of R amp asasa recall the H omo
F loresiences as short in heig ht. H owev er, the attention of the world is y et to focu s
on this interesting discov ery and scientists and archaeolog ists are y et to p u rsu e
this matter to know b etter ab ou t their cou sins on this v ery E arth on which they liv e
on.

STEM CELLS

Stem cells are the b asic cells. They are the cells from what ev ery p art of
the b ody dev elop s after g oing throu g h sev eral stag es. They are p resent in almost
all liv ing b odies in the stag e of the initial g rowth. They form all cells of the b ody
inclu ding the mu scle cells, the nerv e cells, and the b one cells. These stem cells if
p rop erly manip u lated are p otential of cu ring all g enetic diseases and chang ing
p ersonal traits and character in liv ing b eing s inclu ding man.

There are differences of op inions reg arding fu rther ex p eriments in the field
of the stem cells that hav e the p otential to chang e the v ery natu re of man.
B ecau se, su ch p otentialities inv olv e moral q u estions. Many cou ntries like N orth
K orea and E ng land hav e made considerab le p rog ress in the field of stem cells.
Mr. G eorg e B u sh, as the P resident of the United States of America strong ly
op p osed stem cell ex p eriments and ev en threatened that he wou ld v eto any b ill
on this field if the C ong ress p assed it. The p resent P resident of the United States
of America has different v iew in this issu e and the world may witness stem cell
rev olu tion for the b etterment of the hu man kind.

CLONING OF ANIMALS

These day s, hu man kind has adv anced so mu ch that many thing s that he
does wou ld certainly su rp rises the creator himself if he comes down to v isit the
hu man kind he created. H u man kind has b een ab le to work wonders wherev er he
has g one to work in. H e is now try ing to cop y the work of the creator himself. The
endeav ou r is p rog ressing withou t the b arriers of the national b orders. The
p resent efforts are towards cloning of animals throu g h the D N A techniq u e to
create stu rdy and strong er sp ecies. Scientists created D olly , a sheep that died of
disease. Thereafter, the scientists p rodu ced a cloned cat that tu rned ou t to b e a
carb on cop y of the cat from which the D N A was ex tracted and u sed. I t was a
maj or step for the science and mankind in their p rog ress towards rep licating the
works of the creator in creating liv ing sp ecies. Then, the nex t su ccessfu l
endeav ou r was in creating a mu le, which was a cross b etween a donkey and a
horse. L ater, they su cceeded in p rodu cing a cloned dog called as Snu p p y .
Attemp ts will continu e in the cloning techniq u es till scientists create healthy and
strong cloned hu man sp ecies. Already they hav e su cceeded in p rodu cing hu man
semen in lab oratory conditions and this itself is a rev olu tionary step forward to the
field of the creator.

NEWTONIAN LAWS

N ewton was a g reat p hy sicist, mathematician, astronomer and natu ral

p hilosop her that liv ed ab ou t three hu ndred y ears b ack from 16 4 3 to 1727. H e was
a p erson who is well known throu g hou t the world today for his p ath b reaking
influ ence on the history of science. H is fu ll name is I saac N ewton. I saac N ewton
was a p hy sicist and a mathematician with a flair for astronomy and natu ral
p hilosop hy . H e is easily the g reatest p hy sicist in the world till Alb ert E instein
p ostu lated the Theory of R elativ ity that rev olu tioniz ed the field of science. I n an
op inion p oll held at B ritain’ s R oy al Society in 20 0 5 , he was v oted as hav ing larg er
influ ence on the history of science than Alb ert E instein.

I saac N ewton was b orn and liv ed in E ng land that has p rodu ced g ems
like W illiam Shakesp eare, and J ohn K eats. Sir I saac N ewton is the father of the
three N ewton’ s L aws. N ewton’ s first law say s that if a b ody is at rest, it will
continu e to b e at rest and a b ody , which is in motion, will continu e to b e in motion
and will continu e mov ing in the same direction with the same v elocity u ntil an
ex ternal force is ap p lied on it. N ewton’ s second law say s that the rate of chang e
of momentu m of a b ody is eq u al to the p rodu ct b etween the mass and the
acceleration of the b ody and the chang e of momentu m is in the direction of the
force. N ewton’ s third law say s that for ev ery action, there is an eq u al and
op p osite reaction. These three laws rev olu tioniz ed the concep ts of science of the
time and laid fou ndations for rap id g rowth of science in the nex t centu ries. All
later rev olu tions in P hy sics and classical mechanics like the Theory of R elativ ity
and the Q u antu m Theory owe their orig in to the concep ts conceiv ed and the
p aths laid b y Sir I saac N ewton in his P hilosop hiæ N atu ralis P rincip ia
Mathematica, p u b lished in 16 8 7.

CONGRUENCY OF TRIANGLES

Triang les are three sided fig u res that are p resent in the world of G eometry
They are said to b e one of the most comp lex fig u res in g eometry . Triang les can
b e of three ty p es: E q u ilateral, I sosceles and Scalene. C ong ru ency of triang les
means that the triang les are eq u al and same in all resp ects. There are many
kinds of triang les in G eometry . C ong ru ency is one of them. There are some
conditions for a triang le to b e a cong ru ent triang le. The triang le mu st b e eq u al to
the triang le in all resp ects - that is in three ang les and in three sides. H owev er,
creating a cong ru ent triang le b eing a difficu lt and tediou s work, fou r op tions are
av ailab le to p erform the j ob : the S.S.S cong ru ency , the S.A.S cong ru ency , the
A.S.A cong ru ency and the R .H .S cong ru ency . The S.S.S cong ru ency refers to
the cong ru ency which can b e determined if the three sides of the triang les are
g iv en and b oth are eq u al. The S.A.S cong ru ency refers to the cong ru ency which
can b e determined if the two sides and one ang le of the triang les are g iv en and
b oth are eq u al. The A.S.A cong ru ency refers to the cong ru ency which can b e
determined if the two ang les and one side of the triang les are g iv en and b oth are
eq u al. The R .H .S cong ru ency refers to the cong ru ency which can b e determined
if the hy p otenu se, the rig ht ang le and one of the triang les are g iv en and all are
eq u al. The R .H .S cong ru ency can b e u sed only in a rig ht-ang le triang le.