Reuters Science News Summary
Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
India triumphs in maiden Mars mission
India's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet's orbit on Wednesday, crowning India as the first country to complete the trip at its maiden attempt. The success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, lauded for its low price tag of $74 million, will boost India's five-decade-old space programme that newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to expand with better infrastructure and technology.
TV dwells on disaster in covering climate science: study
Television news tends to focus on disasters such as droughts or floods in covering scientific findings about climate change, an approach that may exaggerate pessimism about the subject, according to a new study. The review of coverage by leading television news shows in Australia, Brazil, Britain, China, Germany and India found that they most often framed reports about the science of global warming in terms of crisis.
India's Mars mission a step closer to success with engine test
Indian scientists successfully tested the main engine of a spacecraft bound for Mars on Monday and performed a course correction that puts the low-cost project on track to enter the red planet's orbit. The $74-million mission will attempt to enter orbit around Mars early on Wednesday. If successful, it will be the first time a mission has entered Mars' orbit on its first attempt, enhancing India's position in the global space race.
Aireon to offer satellite tracking free to help search for missing planes
Aireon LLC, a provider of satellite-based aircraft monitoring, said on Monday it will offer its tracking data for free to help authorities search for future missing planes. The system will go live in 2017, when its parent company Iridium Communications Inc finishes installing 66 next-generation satellites plus spares that will provide real-time data to air traffic control centers.
SpaceX Dragon capsule reaches space station
A Space Exploration Technologies cargo ship carrying an experimental 3-D printer and a habitat with 20 mice arrived at the International Space Station on Tuesday, ending a two-day journey. Working from inside the station's windowed cupola module, flight engineer Alexander Gerst, a European Space Agency astronaut, used the station's 58-foot-long (18m) robotic arm to pluck the Dragon capsule from orbit at 6:52 a.m. EDT as the ships sailed 262 miles (422 km) over the Pacific Ocean.
NASA robotic probe slips into orbit around Mars
A NASA robotic spacecraft fired its braking rockets on Sunday, ending a 10-month journey to put itself into orbit around Mars and begin a hunt for the planet's lost water. After traveling 442 million miles (71 million km), the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft fired its six rocket thrusters, trimming its speed from 12,800 mph (20,600 kph) to 10,000 mph (16,093 kph).
