UK-based Indian scientist gets rare lunar soil from China
Mahesh Anand
received an ultra-rare sample of lunar soil straight from China chang'e 6 mission, collected from the Moon's far side. This might be a year of wonders as for the first time any nation has returned material from the Moon's far side, a region previously unexplored due to communication challenges.
Professor Anand, leads the planetary material group at the open university in Milton keynes and is the UK's only scientists who has been granted access to this precious material. This sample weighs about 60 milligrams, and was transported under tight security and is now housed in a high-security laboratory to prevent contamination.
What is the Chang'e 6 mission?
This mission is China's groundbreaking mission aimed at collecting lunar soil and rock samples from the far side of the Moon, a region which has never been explored before.
Operation Sindoor
'Pakistan army moving its troops in forward areas': Key takeaways from govt briefing
'Pak used drones, long-range weapons, jets to attack India's military sites'
'Attempted malicious misinformation campaign': Govt calls out Pakistan's propaganda
Launched by China in 2024, due to this collection, scientists help to study the moon's formation, composition and solar system history.
This mission successfully brought back about 1.9 kilograms of lunar material. These samples are being studied and is being distributed to international researchers for analysis. Notably, the lunar soil exhibits distint charecterstsic compared to previous samples. This has shown higher plagioclase and lower olivine content.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
AI guru Andrew Ng recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around in 2025
Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List
Undo
This lunar soil research aims to offer fundamental responses about the early history of Earth and the formation of the Moon. One of the most accepted concepts is that the Moon formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago from material remaining after a collision between Earth and a Mars-sized planet. Scientists try to get to know this theory better through an examination of the chemical content of these samples, which has elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and noble gases.
China's commitment to
international scientific collaboration
in space exploration is exemplified by this collaboration. The involvement of an Indian-born scientist in the UK highlights the extent to which international moon exploration is and how we are all working towards understanding our galactic neighbour. This brings us one step closer to discovering how the formation of moon happened billions of years ago.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
10 minutes ago
- Time of India
As teams prep for Axiom-4's return, crew continues with science on orbit
Axiom-4 crew (Image credits: ANI) BENGALURU: Weather permitting, the four-member Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4) crew, including Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla (Shux), is set to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) at around 4.35 pm IST on Monday (July 14). Hours after Steve Stitch, manager, Nasa commercial crew programme had confirmed the undocking date, Axiom Space confirmed the targeted time for undocking, beginning the homeward journey of the crew and culminating with a splashdown and recovery. The crew, which launched on June 25 and docked with the ISS the next day, has completed its planned 14-day tenure at the orbital lab and even 'enjoyed a rest day' upon completion of two weeks. Now, even as teams from Axiom, Nasa and SpaceX prepare for the crew's return to Earth, Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shux, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski and Tibor Kapu are making the most of their final days on orbit. The science being done at ISS, Axiom said, was 'pushing forward a wide range of experiments that could shape the future of space exploration and improve life on Earth.' From testing of a special champagne bottle to work that could aid in allowing people with diabetes to travel to space, and from irrigating sprouts to gathering data to check if thoughts could control machines, Ax-4 mission had a research complement of around 60 scientific studies, including seven from India. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Franklin India NFO Investment Franklin Templeton India AMC Learn More Undo Aside from India, the scientific investigations are from 30 other countries, including the US, Poland, Hungary, Brazil, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia. 'We're conducting more research studies than any private ISS mission before. It's not just about science—it's about international collaboration,' Whitson, the Ax-4 commander and a veteran astronaut, had said earlier. India's contribution includes a diverse portfolio of experiments in fields like biotechnology, agriculture, and human physiology, designed by institutions across Bengaluru, Dharwad, Thiruvananthapuram, and New Delhi. Among the Indian studies, one from IISc explored how humans interact with electronic screens in microgravity and investigated the resilience of tardigrades- microscopic organisms known for their survival capabilities. An experiment by InStem, Bengaluru, examined the effect of metabolic supplements on muscle regeneration in space, while testing the sprouting of salad seeds, critical for space-based nutrition, was designed by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), with NIPGR, designed the study to examine the behaviour of edible microalgae and cyanobacteria in space conditions. And Isro's IIST, alongside Kerala Agricultural University, sent experiments to investigate how microgravity influences the growth of food crops.
India.com
28 minutes ago
- India.com
NASA facing a major exodus? Space agency to lose most experienced employees due to..., 2145 senior staff members, 875 top-level workers planning to...
NASA is about to lose a large number of its most experienced employees. According to an internal report shared by Politico , 2,145 senior staff members in important roles including 875 top-level GS-15 workers are planning to leave. In total, 2,694 NASA employees have chosen to take early retirement, accept buyout offers, or delay their resignations. These people hold important technical and leadership positions, and their exit could have a big impact on NASA's work. This is all part of a larger effort to reduce the size of the workforce. But with so many skilled people leaving at once, it's raising concerns about how NASA will manage its future projects. Is NASA facing a major exodus? NASA is seeing a huge wave of resignations, with 1,818 employees from its main missions in science and human spaceflight planning to leave. Many others from important support roles like IT and finance are also going. Experts are worried this means NASA is losing a big part of its technical and leadership strength. Casey Dreier, a space policy expert from The Planetary Society, warned that the agency is losing the people who keep its core work running, and raised serious questions about whether this is the right move. These exits are happening at the same time as a proposed 25 per cent budget cut in 2026 from the White House. That plan could reduce NASA's total workforce by over 5,000 employees, bringing it down to its smallest size since the early 1960s. All 10 of NASA's regional centers will be hit, including: Goddard Space Flight Center – losing 607 staff Johnson Space Center – 366 staff Kennedy Space Center – 311 staff NASA Headquarters – 307 staff Langley Research Center – 281 staff Marshall Space Flight Center – 279 staff Glenn Research Center – 191 staff A big loss of experience at NASA The recent wave of staff exits at NASA is causing serious concern, especially because many of those leaving are key to future space missions, including plans to return to the Moon by 2027 and future Mars exploration. Some job cuts, like those at the Goddard Space Flight Center, match the White House's cost-cutting goals. But others are taking away vital knowledge and skills that NASA depends on. One outgoing employee, who asked to stay anonymous, said the agency is facing 'a lot of experience drain' and that this could disrupt operations. Casey Dreier from The Planetary Society said: 'You're losing the managerial and core technical expertise of the agency. What's the strategy, and what do we hope to achieve here?' One former NASA staff member said they chose to resign partly because they were worried about the future. They mentioned fear over major budget cuts and the fact that NASA still doesn't have a Senate-confirmed administrator, saying, 'Things just sound like it's going to get worse.' So far, only half of the planned 5,000 job cuts have been reached through early retirements and voluntary exits. If enough people don't leave through this program which ends July 25 the agency may be forced to make involuntary job cuts.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
For India to be a real player in the AI race, Parliament must step up
As the US and China drive a new era of AI competition, and the EU asserts leadership on AI regulation, India has articulated its ambition to lead in technology and shape global AI governance. With its democratic legitimacy and digital capacity, India is positioned to represent the Global South in AI forums. However, without a comprehensive, politically grounded national strategy, it risks falling behind in technological capability and managing the attendant strategic and social transformations. The IndiaAI Mission, approved last year with a budget of over Rs 10,000 crore, is a welcome step. But it is a mission without a mandate. Housed as a division of a Section 8 company under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, it is led by a bureaucrat. Operating without a Cabinet-endorsed national strategy, it lacks both the political heft to drive whole-of-government coordination or signal the long-term political commitment required to align public and private action. The US, China, the UK and the EU anchor their AI efforts in formal, Cabinet-endorsed national strategies with clear roadmaps and timelines. This governance gap is critical because India faces structural deficits that impede its AI ecosystem, which cannot be overcome through incremental approaches. The Indian R&D base remains relatively shallow. Our universities are underrepresented in global AI rankings; the pipeline of AI-specialised PhDs is limited; collaboration between academia and industry is weak. India continues to lose top-tier AI talent to global hubs. In the private sector, India's IT industry remains oriented toward services. Research investments are modest relative to international companies, and to the extent that the Indian IT industry has engaged with AI, it has been largely in deployment — downstream of frontier innovation. India lacks AI-first national champions and the deep-tech industrial ecosystem seen in global leaders. Venture capital majors are frank: They see India as a consumer market, not a deep-tech innovator. Funding remains skewed towards consumer tech, not foundational research. Bridging these deficits will require a coordinated transformation, guided by a national strategy, anchored in political consensus and designed to provide long-term policy stability. That consensus is what India's current approach lacks. Parliament's role goes beyond regulation; it is the primary forum for signalling bipartisan political consensus .Yet, Parliament has remained extraneous to shaping national AI governance. Less than 1 per cent of questions are on AI and there is no dedicated institutional mechanism for oversight. In other leading democracies, legislative processes have built bipartisan support for AI strategies, ensured transparency, and aligned governance with public values. Without parliamentary anchoring, India's AI governance risks remaining fragmented and vulnerable to administrative shifts. The consequences of this democratic deficit are evident. Important debates around strategic autonomy, use of public data, energy demands and national security implications have received short shrift in the largely technocratic policy discussions. This absence also undermines India's international credibility. While India's leadership of the Global Partnership on AI signals global ambition, other democracies will look at whether its domestic governance aligns with its aspirations abroad. The path forward is clear. India needs a Cabinet-endorsed National AI Strategy — presented to Parliament — that sets out a vision, an actionable roadmap, and mechanisms for democratic accountability. This strategy must establish an empowered coordinating authority with a whole-of-government mandate; align R&D, industrial policy, and security strategy, and create frameworks for public engagement and parliamentary oversight. AI is not just another technology. It is a general-purpose transformation that will reshape national security, economic structures and the social contract itself. Managing that transformation requires policy stability and legitimacy — built through broad-based national deliberation. India's strengths are undeniable: A young population, a competitive digital economy, and the world's largest democracy. These assets position India to chart an AI trajectory that combines innovation with inclusion. But that future will not emerge by default. The window for action is closing. As global AI governance frameworks take shape and capabilities advance rapidly, India must move beyond piecemeal initiatives toward a comprehensive strategy. AI governance must be treated as a national strategic priority — grounded in democratic consensus — if India is to shape an AI future aligned with its national interests and global leadership aspirations. Gupta is executive director of Future of India Foundation. This article draws from the Foundation's report, 'Governing AI in India: Why Strategy Must Precede Mission'
