Daily Current Affairs

The heaviness of rockets, why it matters in space flight (GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)

Why in news?

• Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) crossed an important milestone with the successful launch of the LVM3 M2/OneWeb India-1 mission.
• The LVM3 rocket carried almost 6 tonnes of payload into lower-earth orbit, the most that any ISRO mission has delivered into space till date.

 

Why it matters?

• The success of the flight not only re-validated the viability of the LVM3 rocket, ISRO’s most advanced launch vehicle, for keenly-awaited missions like the Gaganyaan, but also affirmed the agency’s claim as a serious player in the heavy satellite launch market.
• Very few countries have the capability to launch satellites weighing more than 2 tonnes. Until recently, even ISRO used to take the services of Ariane rockets of Europe to launch its heavy satellites.
• The LVM3 rocket, which used to be called GSLV Mk-III earlier, is meant to end that dependence, and also become the vehicle for the more ambitious parts of India’s space programmes in the near future.

 

India’s rockets:

• India currently has three operational launch vehicles:

1. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV, of which there are multiple versions;
2. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle or GSLV Mk-II; and
3. The Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM3.

• The PSLV has been the most commonly used, having carried as many as 53 successful missions since 1993. Only two flights of PSLV have failed.
• The GSLV-MkII rocket has been used in 14 missions, of which four have ended in failures, most recently in August last year. The LVM3 has flown five times, including the Chandrayaan 2 mission, and has never disappointed.
• In addition, ISRO has been working on a reusable launch vehicle (RLV). Unlike other rockets, the RLV would not end up in space as waste. Instead, it can be brought back and refurbished for use multiple times.

 

Heavier rockets:

• LVM3 is the culmination of more than three decades of efforts to indigenously develop a rocket that can carry heavier payloads, or venture much deeper into space. These requirements not only result in a massive increase in the size of the rocket, but also necessitate a change in the engines and the kind of fuel being used.
• Compared to vehicles that ply on land, or even on water, rockets are an extremely inefficient medium of transport. The passenger (or payload) comprises barely 2 to 4 per cent of the weight of the rocket.
• Between 80 and 90 per cent of the launch-time weight of any space mission is the fuel, or the propellant. This is because of the unique nature of a space journey, which involves overcoming the tremendous force of gravity.
• The LMV3 rocket, for example, has a lift-off mass of 640 tonnes, and all it can carry to lower earth orbits (LEO), about 200 km from the Earth’s surface is a mere 8 tonnes.
• To the Geostationary Transfer Orbits (GTO) that lie farther ahead, up to about 35,000 km from Earth, it can carry much less, only about 4 tonnes. However, the LMV3 is not particularly weak when compared to the rockets being used by other countries or space companies for similar jobs.
• The Ariane 5 rockets, frequently used by ISRO earlier for its heavy payloads, has a lift-off mass of 780 tonnes, and can carry 20-tonne payloads to lower earth orbits and 10 tonnes to GTO.
• The Falcon Heavy rockets from SpaceX, supposed to be the most powerful modern launch vehicles, weigh over 1,400 tonnes at launch time, and can carry payloads weighing only about 60 tonnes.
• The PSLV has been the most commonly used, having carried as many as 53 successful missions since 1993. Only two flights of PSLV have failed.

 

Challenges:

• The size of a launch vehicle is dictated by the destination in space it is headed towards, the kind of fuel; solid, liquid, cryogenic, mix that is being used, and the size of the payload. The choice of any two of these variables places severe restrictions on the flexibility of the third, a predicament that is popularly referred to as the “tyranny of the rocket equation” in the space community.
• Not surprisingly, most of a rocket’s energy is burnt in travelling to the lower earth orbit. This is because the force of gravity is the strongest here. The journey farther into space is much more smooth, and requires far less energy.
• In fact, it takes half as much energy for a rocket to travel to the Moon from the LEO (a journey of nearly 4 lakh km) compared to what it takes to travel to LEO from Earth (about 200 km). It is for this reason that it is often said that the giant leap for mankind was not setting foot on the Moon, but in reaching the LEO.
• If a space mission is headed towards the Moon or Mars or any other celestial body, the gravity of the destination also enters the equation. More energy would be expended in reaching such a destination, compared to simply attaining a space orbit to deposit a satellite.
• The efficiency of the fuel being used is the other constraint on the flight of the rocket. Several chemicals are used as rocket fuels. They deliver different thrusts. Most modern-day rockets use multiple sets of fuels to power the different stages of the flight to optimise the results.
• The LMV3, for example, has solid fuels in the boosters which provide additional thrust during liftoff, a liquid stage, and a cryogenic stage.

 

Engineering ingenuity:

• With dreams of setting up a permanent station on the Moon, and taking human beings to Mars and beyond, rockets would need to carry more and more stuff to space. But the capacity of rockets is severely limited.
• There are two kinds of engineering innovations that can be employed to fulfill the objectives of future missions. The rockets can make multiple trips, carrying components of larger structures that can be assembled in space. This is how the International Space Station and other similar facilities were built.
• The other is the possibility of the use of resources available in situ on the Moon and Mars. In fact, all future missions to the Moon are attuned to exploring this possibility.

National Credits Framework (NCrF)

(GS Paper 2, Education)

Why in news?

• In a bid to integrate academic and vocational or skill-based education, Union Education Minister recently unveiled the draft report on the National Credits Framework (NCrF) and invited nationwide public consultations and suggestions on the proposed educational credits system.
• NCrF would be a game changer by opening numerous options for further progression of students and inter-mingling of school and higher education with vocational education and experiential learning, thus mainstreaming skilling and vocational education.

 

What is the National Credits Framework?

• Academic credits are a recognition that a student/learner has completed a course or unit of learning that corresponds to a qualification at a given level. Credits quantify the outcomes of learning.
• In a credit-based education system, a stipulated amount of credits based either on the number of hours of learning or student workload are required to progress from one level to another, subject to assessments such as examinations. For instance, 20 credits are required to complete a semester along with passing exams.
• While there is currently no established credit mechanism for regular school education in India, there is a credit system under the open schooling system and a Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) for higher education.
• In order to “seamlessly integrate” the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational & skill education, the Centre has drafted the National Credits Framework (NCrF) as an “inclusive umbrella Framework” under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
• The Credits Framework also aims to democratise education by enabling learners to earn credits not just through academic education or classroom learning but through co-curriculars, extracurriculars, vocational learning, online or distance learning, recognition of prior learning, and informal learning.
• The draft document states that the total learning hours of the student could be creditised and no form of learning would remain unaccounted for; it may include:

• classroom teaching/ learning
• laboratory work/ innovation labs/ class projects/ assignments/ tutorials
• sports and games, yoga, physical activities
• performing arts, music, handicraft work
• social work, NCC, bag less days
• examinations/ class tests/ quizzes/ assessments
• vocational education, training and skilling
• minor/ major project work/ field visits in skill education
• on the job training (OJT)/ internship/ apprenticeship/ experiential learning including relevant experience and professional levels acquired

 

How will the integrated credits system work?

• The NCrF proposes the alignment of notional learning hours—the number of hours a student will spend to achieve a particular learning outcome across academic classes including preschool, school and higher education.
• It proposes that a learner, from class five to doctorate education, should spend 1200 notional learning hours every year in order to earn 40 credits, which, at the school level would mean 600 hours and 20 credits per semester. From preschool up to grade 5, the learning hours would range from 800 to 1000 hours.
• From grade 5 onwards, 30 notional learning hours would be counted as one credit. The learner would also be able to earn more than 40 credits in a year if they partake in any additional program/course beyond the prescribed 1200 learning hours or beyond the purview of the course syllabus.
• Based on the number of years of learning along with assessment, the NCrF prescribes eight credit levels in schooling till higher education.
• Under this framework, reaching grade 5 would mean the student is at credit level 1, grade 8 would be level 2, grade 10 level 3 and so on. Levels for three and four-year undergraduate courses would be 5.5 and 6 respectively, and the highest level or level 8 would be assigned upon obtaining a PhD.

• Notably, credits and credit levels will be assigned uniformly between different areas of learning, i.e. arts and sciences, vocational and academic streams, and curricular and extra-curricular.

 

Vocational education:

• As for vocational education, training, and skilling, while the credit levels, learning hours and credits earned in a year remain the same, the forms of learning that nets credits changes.
• For instance, at credit level 1 of vocational education, a learner without any formal education or prior experience would need to spend 150 to 210 hours in a short-term training programme [theory, practical, and on-the-job training (OTJ)] program or 600 hours in an apprenticeship program. At level 3, a learner would need to be either in grade 9 of formal education or have passed grade 8 with one year of experience in that skill.
• Similarly, assignment of credits has also been prescribed for other forms of learning such as online learning, open or distance learning, blended learning, and also for relevant work experience and proficiency in a vocational skill.
• The NCrF will encompass all the National Qualification Frameworks that determine qualification levels in skill-based, school, and Higher education- National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and National School Education Qualification Framework (NSEQF).

 

What is the Academic Bank of Credits?

• All the credits earned by a learner through all the forms, streams, and levels of learning would be stored in the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), which was introduced earlier in 2022 just for higher education purposes. The ABC would be a digital repository of all credits earned by a student.
• When introduced for higher education recently, the ABC was envisioned to enable the transfer of credits across higher education institutions. For instance, if a student pursuing a degree in one college wanted to pursue another elective or course simultaneously in another college, their credits would be universal.
• Since the ABC would be extended to all forms of learning, it would store credits earned from formal education, vocational education, distance or online education, informal education, internships, and other credited activities, which would create a formal system of credit recognition, credit accumulation, credit transfer, and credit redemption in order to promote distributed and flexible teaching and learning. The credits stored in the ABC would also be useful to a learner who wants to exit the education ecosystem mid-course or degree and use the stored credits to re-enter later.
• The multiplication of credits earned with the NCrF credit level will provide the value of credit points a learner has, which can then be redeemed from the ABC while starting a course at any academic or vocational institute.

 

What is the importance of the NCrF?

• The NCrF aims to blur the lines or remove the “hard separation” between curricular, extracurricular, or co-curricular, among arts, commerce, and sciences, or between vocational or academic streams.
• The draft states that learning is a process that takes into account multiple dimensions of “cognitive, emotional, social and physical learning” and for holistic learning, students should be allowed to “choose subjects according to their interests irrespective of the nature of the course (academic or vocational)”.
• For this purpose, it urges educational institutions or regulators to form new curricula that allow for actual choice-based multidisciplinary learning, where a student has the ability to design their own course structure. For example, a learner in the science stream has the option of taking multiple humanities electives or courses and earning an equal number of credits.

 

Way Forward:

• One of the main objectives of the NCrF is to bring skilling and vocational learning to the mainstream, by creating equivalence of a vocational education and skilling program with general education programs with or without any additional academic learning.
• There are occasions when learners pursue alternative schooling, home-schooling, or online schooling or have to give up their education mid-way for various reasons. The national credit framework will act as an enabler in this regard and regulators shall be required to define the entry and exit criteria of the programs being offered by them.

 

The Technology, Water and Security Nexus

(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)

 

Context:

• From low-cost desalination to hand-held purifying filters, technology has revolutionised access to clean drinking water and improved livelihoods across the globe. Technology has also aided in enabling better infrastructure, reducing loss, and creating a more secure environment.
• As the global population grows, especially in urban centres, and resources dwindle, it has become even more important to increase the water sector’s sustainability and resilience; being water smart, creating more with what we have, and wasting less.

 

Caution:

• Working with companies and people that bring the best of innovation in technology, artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), robotics, and new frontiers in computing can enable better management of  growing water insecurity.
• However, as these two spaces merge and blur, there is need to be mindful that the extent of dependency on technology does not distract from behaviour and patterns of use.
• And, above all, as with many other spaces of innovation and science, there is need to ensure that any over dependence on technology and systems does not become a security threat.

 

Water insecurity:

• Water insecurity is a very real challenge to human and environmental security across all measures.
• While access to clean water is one of the largest hurdles, insecurity also stems from a range of issues, including dwindling groundwater, stress on water bodies, unsustainable development and theft, amongst others.
• Changes in the climate and ecosystems are added cause and effect of water insecurity.
• About a third of the global population lives without access to clean water and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 set a high bar to ensure safe and affordable drinking water for all by the end of the decade.
• It will not be easy, especially in Asia, where approximately 300 million people in the region do not have access to safe drinking water, and close to 80 percent of wastewater generated by cities is discharged untreated into water bodies.

Intersection of technology & water security:

• While ambitious, these goals can be met through a better understanding of how water plays a pivotal role not only in human, food, and health security, but also in protecting ecosystems, growth ambitions, energy needs, and mitigating climate change. In practical terms, the intersection of technology and water security is an important avenue in achieving these goals.
• Emerging technology can be effectively utilised and optimised to make access to water and managing water systems more efficient. It also aids in smarter predictions and forecasting.
• There are numerous ways to harness technology, innovation, and the drive to create and aid water solutions that can ultimately also prevent conflict over shared resources.

Fourth Industrial Revolution:

• The emerging fourth industrial revolution offers untapped possibilities on understanding water. In 2021, a joint satellite mission between NASA and France, the Surface Ocean Topography Mission, was launched to use radar technology to provide a global survey of Earth’s water.
• The satellite will study lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the oceans, potentially adding a wealth of knowledge to previously unknown data to understand, measure, and manage our water resources.
• Such knowledge is not only about understanding our waters better, but it is also incredibly useful in understanding the effects of development on our resources and the more nuanced effects of changes in weather and climate, ultimately feeding into better policy making.

Smart metering:

• Smart metering uses IoT sensors installed at critical junctures along infrastructure to alert users on water levels, quality, theft, and leakages. Primarily used in large scale systems, these can be introduced at the household and community level, including new housing complexes that are being built in growing cities across India.
• Not only can such a system create better awareness and understanding in domestic use patterns to allow for better policy making, it also ensures that the citizen has a role and responsibility in the sustainability of water cycles.
• Such sensors can also improve water quality, as unexpected or dangerous chemical levels can be spotted and dealt with immediately. The data collected by these devices can subsequently be analysed by AI algorithms to predict seasons when there might be chemical spikes that can be pre-emptively treated, especially in communities that share water bodies and water systems with industry.

 

Other Smart ideas:

• Innovation in this space is countless, from water ATMs to fit-for-purpose wastewater solutions to underwater drones with sensors for pipes and drains.
• In Bhubaneshwar, researchers at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research are using burnt red clay to treat raw water and make it potable; and in central India, low cost fit-for-purpose wastewater solutions developed by ECOSOFTT are being used to treat pollution in the Narmada River. The interconnectedness between various users and better governance is endless.

 

Collaborative approach:

• As the dangerous trio of climate change,unsustainable development, and dwindling water resources hinder human and environmental security, the trio of science, emerging technology, and innovation need to be brought closer together in the water sector.
• Better public-private partnerships with substantial investment allows for targeted forecasting and tools that can predict potential conflict zones.
• The last annual report by the Indian Meteorological Department stated that not only was 2021 the fifth warmest year since 1901, 2012-2021 was the warmest decade on record. A rise in temperatures can have cascading effects on weather events, urban transformation, agricultural output, health, and energy security. Such events can fuel existing tensions and become risk multipliers.
• AI and machine learning can map and predict potential risks, and early warning tools can aid in tracking water supplies, the effects of changes in the weather patterns, and potential disruptions that can occur.
• It is a step forward in understanding conflict and engaging in dialogue and cooperation measures early on. A transformation in thought, analysis, and implementation is necessary to be able to counter known and, more importantly, some of the unknown risks and effects of a warming planet.

 

Challenges ahead:

• Undoubtedly, there are limitations and challenges to the extensive use of technology including regulatory frameworks, lack of skill, the inability of existing infrastructure to support such innovation, financial obstacles, and high energy consumption, amongst others.
• Often, new environmental and water-related technology and the use of AI or machines are met with suspicion and are seen as a challenge to cultural traditions, especially if local communities are not suitably sensitised.
• Adoption requires a wider approach, with upgraded infrastructure, a range of new technical skills, new governance frameworks, education, and effective management. These are not insurmountable challenges and can be overcome through political will, forward-looking institutions and policies, and significant public-private partnerships.
• There is also the added risk that comes with the use of technology, such as cyberattacks that are used as threats on critical infrastructure, utilities and businesses, affecting consumers and causing significant financial loss.
• ‘Hacktivism’ is a growing concern and interconnected grids, dams, treatment plants, and other infrastructure all become vulnerable.

Way Forward:

• Overdependence on technology cannot and should not replace human responsibility on how water is seen, understood and used; there is no substitute for education to ensure that we are no longer wasteful.
• The other aspect is ensuring that we use any emerging technology, innovation, and science mindfully with smart policies and global governance systems in place that provide us with security but also safeguards the water itself.
• While some technology has been a part of water conversation for decades, it is still a new area of collaboration. Ultimately, there is no substitute for the beautiful rivers and lakes and other water bodies we depend on.