UPSC Prelims News of 10th September 2022
Quick Reaction Surface-To-Air Missile (QRSAM)
Context: DRDO and Indian Army have successfully completed six flight-tests of the QRSAM system from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur off the Odisha coast.
About the News
- QESAM is the India’s first indigenous mobile air defence system developed by DRDO, meant for protecting moving armoured columns of the Army from enemy aerial attacks.
- It is a short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.
- After the sixth successful flight tests, the system is now ready for induction into the Army.
Capabilities
- It is an all-weather missile system.
- It is capable of detecting and tracking targets on the move and engaging targets with short halts.
- It can be mounted on a truck and stored in a canister.
- It has a range of 25 to 30 km, and can target an altitude of up to 10 km.
Functioning
- The system uses a single stage solid propelled missile.
- It has a fully automated Command and Control System.
- The missile system possesses two four-walled radars both of which encompass a 360-degree coverage, apart from the launcher while Laser proximity fuse ensures that missile can’t be jammed.
NASA’s Sonification Project
Context: NASA will be carrying out sonification of the images and data gathered by James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Sonification of Images and Data
- Sonification converts the visual images by encoding information, like colour, brightness, star locations, or water absorption signatures, as sounds.
- Conversion into sound: The data gathered will be converted into sound by a team of musicians so as to give unique experience to listeners.
- Musicians assign different notes to each part of the image, from the semi-transparent regions to the very dense areas of gas and dust.
- Examples of sonification:
- Carina Nebula: The JWST had captured one of the clearer images of Carina Nebula, which is 7,600 light years away.
- The sound becomes louder for brighter parts of the image, but that depends on the position of light in the image.
- Southern Ring Nebula: The colours in the image were mapped to the pitches of sound by directly converting the light frequencies into sound frequencies.
- Near-infrared light is represented by higher frequency sound.
- Carina Nebula: The JWST had captured one of the clearer images of Carina Nebula, which is 7,600 light years away.
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