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Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
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Wish You All A Happy & Prosperous Onam
ഹൃദയം നിറഞ്ഞ ഓണാശംസകള്
by G. Binukumar, Nimr, Sultanate of Oman
President Pranab Mukherjee in his message said, "On the joyous occasion of Onam, I offer my warm felicitations and heartiest greetings to all my brothers and sisters belonging to Kerala."
He said the festival brings out the rich cultural heritage of Kerala in its best form and spirit.
"May this harvest festival instill in us the spirit of national integration and inspire us to work for further development of our country" Mukherjee said.
Vice President M Hamid Ansari said Onam plays an important role in uniting people.
He wished that the festival "may usher in peace, prosperity and happiness in the society and contribute in the nation's progress"
Onam is a Hindu festival, celebrated by the people of Kerala in India. Also known as Vamana Jayanti, it solemnizes the Vamana avatar of Vishnu and the homecoming
of the legendary Emperor Mahabali. The festival falls in the month of Chingam and lasts for ten days.
The festival is acknowledged for its colorful and vibrant celebrations
like Onnapotan (a Kerela art form), Puli
Kali (Masked leopard dance), intricate flower carpets and the like. Besides
these festivities, prayers are being offered in Hindu temples by Hindus and the
non-Hindus are not allowed to enter the sacred temples. Onam is a venerated
feast for Mahabali, a revered figure since the primordial times.
The celebrations of Onam begin on the Atham day, ten days before Thiruvonam. The ten respective days of festivity start with Atham, followed by
Chithira that makes way for Chodi, in succession comes Vishakam subsequently
followed by Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, Uthradom and finally comes,
Thiruvonam, also known as “Second Onam”. Colors, flowers, new clothes,
performing various folk-dance and other cultural activities become the hallmark
of Onam. It is the picturesque fervor that adds to the dramatic element in
Onam.
It is amazing to see the legacy
of Onam going in the modern times. It’s a ritual that marks the succession of
the Keralite traditions and customs. People who cannot make it to the festival
send their loved ones greeting cards, online and through mails. Greeting cards
in Onam keeps the spirit of the festival alive in people near or far. The
festival of color and flowers has gained immense popularity. Thus, the ongoing
revelry and rejoice!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
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Curiosity, a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012 at 05:14:39 UTC. American President Obama calls Curiosity landing an 'unprecedented feat of technology".
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed Curiosity, a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012 at 05:14:39 UTC. Coverage as it happened as Nasa lands Curiosity, a metric-tonne rover, on Mars, the first time the US space agency has attempted to land a probe of that size on Mars. Touchdown took place just after 6.30am Monday morning.
First images from the Curiosity rover which landed on Mars
Gale Crater is the MSL landing site. Within Gale Crater is a mountain, named Aeolis Mons (i.e. "Mount Sharp"), of layered rocks, rising about 5.5 km (18,000 ft) above the crater floor, that Curiosity will investigate. The landing site is a smooth region called Aeolis Palus inside the crater in front of the mountain. The landing site is elliptical, 20 by 7 km (12 by 4.3 mi). Gale Crater's diameter is 154 km (96 mi).
Second Picture from Curiosity
Curiosity Landing Video
The nylon bridle will break free and the mother-ship will speed away to a safe distance where it will eventually run out of fuel and fall to the surface. Meanwhile, Curiosity will hopefully have landed wheels down with no obstruction, ready to roam and make some extraordinary scientific discoveries.Launching of Curiosity
MSL was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 on November 26, 2011, at 10:02:00.0 EST (15:02:00.0 UTC) via the Atlas V 541 provided by United Launch Alliance. This two stage rocket includes a 3.8 m (12 ft) Common Core Booster (CCB) powered by a single RD-180 engine, four solid rocket boosters (SRB), and one Centaur III with a 5.4 m (18 ft) diameter payload fairing. The NASA Launch Services Program coordinated the launch via the NASA Launch Services (NLS) I Contract. This vehicle is capable of launching up to 7,982 kg (17,600 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit. The Atlas V has also been used to launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the New Horizons probe. The first and second stage along with the solid rocket motors were stacked on October 9, 2011, near the launch pad. The fairing containing MSL was transported to the launch pad on November 3, 2011.Curiosity has been careering through space for almost one year since its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Florida, at 10.02am, November 26 last year. Since then, the spacecraft housing Curiosity – the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft (MSL) – has had a reasonably problem-free journey travelling the 127 million miles from Earth to Mars.
Breaking this down specifically, there have been 254 "cruise days" in the journey and 45 "approach days" when the probe was preparing for entry.
IMAGE COURTESY OF NASA JPL
Here she is on the launch pad, taking off for her mission. The launch vehicle was a two-stage Atlas rocket.
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