The Hindu Editorial (On the moon, over the moon) – Aug 24, 2023

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The Hindu Editorial (On the moon, over the moon) – Aug 24, 2023:

over the moon (phrase) – extremely happy, delighted, euphoric, joyful, excited, joyous, elated, exhilarated, jubilant, ecstatic, blissful.
Chandrayaan-3 (noun) – Chandrayaan-3 is the third lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-1 (launched on October 22, 2008) & Chandrayaan-2 (launched on 22 July 2019). Chandrayaan-3 is to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. It was launched by LVM3 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota on July 14, 2023. The Chandrayaan-3 has reached the lunar orbit almost a month after its launch, and its lander, Vikram, and rover, Pragyaan, were landed on the Moon on August 23. Notably, the landing site of the latest mission is more or less the same as the Chandrayaan-2: near the south pole of the moon at 70 degrees latitude.
Chandrayaan 2 (noun) – Chandrayaan-2 was the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-1. It consisted of a lunar orbiter, and also included the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover, all of which were developed in India. The spacecraft was launched on 22 July 2019. However, the lander crashed when it deviated from its intended trajectory while attempting to land on 6 September 2019. ISRO re-attempted a landing in 2023 with Chandrayaan-3.
Chandrayaan 1 (noun) – Chandrayaan-1 was the first Indian lunar probe under the Chandrayaan program. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008. The mission was a major boost to India’s space program, as India researched and developed its own technology in order to explore the Moon.
signal (noun) – indicate, express, announce, declare.
space exploration (noun) – investigation, with the use of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, of scientifically valuable destinations across our solar system beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Human/Civil space exploration helps to address fundamental questions about our place in the Universe and the history of our solar system.
lander (Vikram) (noun) – a spacecraft designed to land on the surface of a planet/moon. A lander is immobile, and maintains its fixed position once it has landed.
rover (Pragyan) (noun) – a space exploration vehicle designed to move and explore the surface of a planet or moon. A rover is mobile, and has wheels with which it can move.
hunk (noun) – a large piece of something.
speed (verb) – move quickly.
suite (noun) – a collection of; a set of; a group of.
actuator (noun) – a control motor; it is a part of a device or machine that helps it to achieve physical movements by converting energy, often electrical, air, or hydraulic, into mechanical force. Simply put, it is the component in any machine that enables movement.
gently (adverb) – softly.
descend (verb) – move downwards, go down, come down, alight.
touch down (phrasal verb) – (of an aircraft/spacecraft) land, alight, descend, come down.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) (noun) – Indian Space Research Organisation, formed in 1969, superseded the erstwhile Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). Vikram Sarabhai, having identified the role and importance of space technology in a Nation’s development, provided ISRO with the necessary direction to function as an agent of development. ISRO then embarked on its mission to provide the Nation space-based services and to develop the technologies to achieve the same independently.
jubilant (adjective) – very happy, joyful, overjoyed, excited, joyous, elated, exhilarated, jubilant, ecstatic, blissful.
soft-land (verb) – (of a spacecraft) to land on the moon or a planet without any damage/destruction incurred to the vehicle.
soft-landing (noun) – a landing by a spacecraft on the moon or a planet without any damage/destruction incurred to the vehicle.
spacecraft (noun) – a vehicle or machine designed to fly/travel in outer space (i.e. outside the earth’s atmosphere).
feat (noun) – achievement, accomplishment, attainment, triumph.
illustrate (verb) – show, demonstrate, display, exemplify, represent.
space flight (noun) – space travel; a journey through space.
mission (noun) – an expedition (journey) into space.
by virtue of (phrase) – because of, on account of, owing to, thanks to.
hunger (noun) – need, appetite, strong desire, liking.
caprice (noun) – whim, fancy, urge, impulse; changeableness, volatility, inconstancy, unpredictability.
indistinguishable (adjective) – incomprehensible, hard to understand, indiscernible, imperceptible.
will (noun) – desire, wish, disposition, intention; determination, will power, commitment, resolution.
human will (noun) – it refers to the human capacity to actively decide what to do instead of reacting automatically to stimuli.
galvanize (verb) – inspire, motivate, encourage, stimulate, influence, energize.
implication (noun) – consequence, result, effect, ramification, repercussion, reverberation.
take away (phrasal verb) – to remember a key a key fact, point, or idea, typically one emerging from a previous experience.
preceding (adjective) – previous, prior, earlier.
lunar (adjective) – it refers to the Moon.
orbiter (noun) – a spacecraft designed to go into orbit of a planet or other celestial body without landing on its surface.
distal (adjective) – away from the point of attachment or origin; it refers to distance, while proximal indicates proximity; peripheral, remote, outermost, farthermost, endmost, and far-flung.
premature (adjective) – untimely, early, too soon, too early, before time; ill-timed, ill-considered.
demise (noun) – end, failure, collapse.
give rise to (phrase) – produce, bring about, make for.
upgraded (adjective) – enhanced, improved, advanced.
distinguish (verb) – observe, recognize, identify, see, perceive, discern.
redundancy (noun) – the inclusion of extra components into a system which are not strictly needed to operate it, but they are added to be used if other components fail.
broader superlative adjective of broad (adjective) – comprehensive, extensive, wide, wide-ranging, broad-ranging.
juncture (noun) – time, moment, point, occasion, situation.
Artemis Accords (noun) – NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, established the Artemis Accords in 2020 together with seven other founding member nations. The purpose of these Accords is to establish a common vision via a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices to enhance the governance of the civil exploration and use of outer space with the intention of advancing the Artemis Program
multilateral (adjective) – involving many different countries.
neighbourhood (noun) – (surrounding) area, region, district/country.
given (preposition) – considering, taking into account, bearing in mind.
Luna 25 (noun) – Luna 25, also designated the Luna-Glob-Lander, is a Russian lunar lander mission that launched on 10 August 2023. It was targeted to the south polar region of the Moon. it has ended in failure with the spacecraft crashing onto the lunar surface.
foretell (verb) – predict, foresee, anticipate, expect.
limited (adjective) – restricted.
fashion (noun) – way, method, approach of doing something.
parallel (adjective) – similar, equivalent, matching, resembling.
axis (noun) – alliance, coalition, bloc, union.
interplanetary (adjective) – between planets.
rudimentary (adjective) – first, initial, primary, basic, foundational, elementary.
speak to (phrasal verb) – discuss something officially; comment on something officially.
characterise (verb) – describe, indicate, specify, identify, classify.
subsoil (noun) – the layer of soil that is under the surface level.
measure (noun) – system, standard.
space-faring (noun/adjective) – space travel; space travelling.
press (verb) – present, put forward, urge.
stellar (adjective) – relating to stars.
largely (adverb) – mostly, mainly, generally.
Earth Observation (EO) (noun) – it refers to the use of remote sensing technologies to monitor land, marine (seas, rivers, lakes) and atmosphere.
remote-sensing (noun) – the acquiring of information from a distance.
AstroSat (noun) – AstroSat is India’s first dedicated Space Astronomy Observatory launched into a 650-km, 6° inclination orbit on September 28, 2015, with a lift-off mass of 1515 kg, by PSLV-C30 (XL) rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota.
exception (noun) – special case.
forthcoming (adjective) – approaching, upcoming, imminent, nearing, impending.
Aditya-L1 (noun) – ISRO’s solar mission Aditya-L1 to a vantage point in space, known as the L1 Lagrange point, to do imaging and study of the sun. (The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system affords an uninterrupted view of the sun and it lies 1.5 million kilometres inside the Earth’s orbit, partway between the Sun and the Earth). (vantage point means a position from which you can see things well).
XPoSat (noun) – XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is India’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions. The spacecraft will carry two scientific payloads in a low earth orbit.
NASA-ISRO SAR Mission (NISAR) (noun) – a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). it 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 applications.
relatively (adverb) – comparatively, fairly, reasonably, satisfactorily.
well-equipped (adjective) – provided with all the necessary equipment.
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan (noun) – India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)—or Mangalyaan (Hindi for “Mars Craft”)—is the country’s first mission to Mars (the Red Planet). The mission aims to test key technologies for interplanetary exploration and to use its five science instruments to study the Martian surface and atmosphere from orbit.
room (noun) – opportunity, scope, chance, capacity.
spending cut (noun) – the act of reducing spending.
threshold (noun) – it is an amount, level, or limit of something; lower limit.
launchability (noun) – of being launched.
bring to a close (phrase) – to end something.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) (noun) – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was designated as a core performance agency to support the Japanese government’s overall aerospace development and utilization.
Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission (noun) – The Indo-Japanese Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission is envisaged to explore the permanently shadowed regions or the dark side of the moon. The main objective of the mission is to confirm the presence of water in the polar regions of the moon.
successor (noun) – something that comes after another thing; replacement, substitute.
aftermath (noun) – consequences, after-effects, repercussions; end result, outcome.
ill-fated (adjective) – unfortunate, regrettable, unlucky.
Fobos-Grunt mission (noun) – it was Russia’s failed mission in 2011, designed to land on Mars’ moon, Phobos, as well as return soil samples to Earth in order to determine the origin and evolution of this moon.
prompt (verb) – cause, result in, lead to, bring about, give rise to.
on one’s own (phrase) – by one’s own efforts, all alone, (all) by oneself(all) by oneself.
vis-à-vis (preposition) – concerning, with regard to, in relation to, as/in comparison with, in connection with (Vis-à-vis from Latin via. French, means literally “face-to-face).
sluggish (adjective) – inactive, slow, lazy, dull, depressed, lethargic, apathetic.
graduate (verb) – progress, advance, go up, move up, proceed, develop.
quantum communication (noun) – it involves sending encrypted data as classical bits over networks, while the keys to decrypt the information are encoded and transmitted in a quantum state using qubits. Some companies have taken advantage of this property to create networks for transmitting highly sensitive data based on a process called quantum key distribution, or QKD. In theory, at least, these networks are ultra-secure.
habitation (noun) – place of residence, house, dwelling (place), abode.
planetary habitability (noun) – the measure of a planet’s or a natural satellite’s potential to develop and maintain environments hospitable to life.
to name a few (phrase) – to provide just few examples, even though there are more.
commerce (noun) – trade, business.
cadence (noun) – the flow or rhythm of events; rhythm, tempo, pulse.
launch cadence (noun) – the speed/pace at which launching work is organized and completed.
accelerate (verb) – increase, expedite, speed up, facilitate.
vista (noun) – view, prospect, aspect, perspective.
vector (noun) – course; course of action.
enterprise (noun) – activity, venture, pursuit, endeavour.
lead from the front (phrase) – take a leadership role (in guiding others to do).