Spacewalking astronauts venture out to improve European lab
Cape canaveral (US), Jan 27: A pair of astronauts went spacewalking Wednesday to install a high-speed data link outside the International Space Station’s European lab.
NASA’s Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover floated out early and headed straight to Columbus, one of the three high-tech labs at the orbiting outpost. They hauled with them a fancy new antenna for Columbus that will provide faster communication with European researchers via satellites and ground stations.
The boxy antenna is the size of a small refrigerator. Danish astronaut Andreas Morgensen guided the spacewalkers from Mission Control in Houston. The spacewalkers also needed to hook up power and data cables for an experiment platform for science research outside the European lab that’s been awaiting activation for almost a year. SpaceX delivered the platform named Bartolomeo to the space station last spring.
The shelf was installed with the station’s robot arm, but had to wait until Wednesday’s spacewalk to get hooked up and activated. Airbus, which built and runs Bartolomeo, is selling space on the platform for private research projects.
It’s Europe’s first commercial venture outside the station. Hopkins and Glover will perform a second spacewalk on Monday to complete battery upgrades to the station’s solar power grid.
The latest spacewalk was the third for Hopkins and first for Glover. They are part of SpaceX’s second astronaut flight that launched in November. (AP)
R-Day celebrations at Indian consulate in Houston
Houston, Jan 27: The 72nd Republic Day of India was celebrated with a flag-hoisting ceremony at the consulate here on Tuesday morning. Members of the Indian community joined the celebrations in large numbers virtually in view of the local public health guidelines due to COVID-19.
Consul General of India, Aseem R Mahajan, unfurled the Tricolor, which was followed by the National Anthem and reading of the address of President Ram Nath Kovid by Consul General.
In his remarks to the Indian American community, Mahajan complimented their efforts during the pandemic and their role in bringing two nations closer.
“India has a strong connection with this part of the country due to the vibrant Indian American community residing here,” Mahajan said.
“Consulate has drawn out a roadmap of events and activities to promote trade and investment between both countries by partnering with states across southern United States, Chambers and other stakeholders, to plan events and interactions, focusing on healthcare, medical research, aerospace, technology, logistics, energy and manufacturing,” the Consul General said.
“India has recently introduced a new education policy, which offers immense potential to deepen our partnership in the area of education and research, we are working with various educational and research institutions across the southern United States for building institutional linkages, joint exchange programs, joint research and partnering in areas of innovation,” he added.
The ceremony ended with a short cultural programme involving local artistes. (PTI)