Daily Current Capsules - 28^th May 2019

Space Awareness
NASA unveils schedule for 'Artemis' 2024 Moon mission
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Artemis ) + Mains ( GS III space awareness)
Highlights
The mission will return astronauts to Moon for first time in past 50 years, including eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024.

What's the NEWS

• NASA unveiled the calendar for the "Artemis" program that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century, including eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024.
• ARTEMIS is abbreviation for Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun. It is NASA's next mission to Moon.
• It is named Artemis after Greek mythological Goddess of Moon and also twin sister to Apollo (the namesake of Apollo program which sent 12 American astronauts to Moon between 1969 and 1972).

• Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission around the Moon planned for 2020.
• Next will come Artemis 2, which will orbit Earth's satellite with a crew around 2022; followed finally by Artemis 3 that will put astronauts on lunar soil in 2024, including the first woman.
• The three will be launched into space by the biggest rocket of all time, the Boeing-led Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently under development
  
• In addition to these missions, which will be all NASA's efforts, there will be five launches carrying the building blocks of the lunar mini-station "Gateway" which will serve as a staging point for the Moon landing.
• These will be carried out between 2022 and 2024 by private space companies, which NASA will pay for their services.
• The orbital station will initially consist of a simple power and propulsion element and a small habitat module.
• In 2024, astronauts will stop there en route to the Moon. They will then descend to the surface on a lander.
• A part of the lander will remain on the Moon while the other part will take off and allow the astronauts to return to their station, where they will board the Orion capsule and return to Earth.

Miscellaneous Factoids
'Celestial Bodies' wins Man Booker International Prize 2019
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the prize and recent change in name)

What's the NEWS

• The Man Booker International Prize, an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom, is a counterpart to the ‘Man Booker Prize' that is awarded only for English-language novels.

Know! about Oman author Jokha Alharthi

• Oman author Jokha Alharthi won the prestigious ‘Man Booker International Prize 2019' for her novel "Celestial Bodies".
• With this, Alharthi became the first Arabic-language writer to win the prize and the first female writer from Oman to have her work translated into English.
• Alharthi also won the ‘Best Omani Novel Award' for Celestial Bodies in 2010.

Award to be renamed to International Booker Prize

• The award will be renamed as the ‘International Booker Prize' soon as this is the final year that the award receives sponsorship from investment firm ‘Man Group PLC'.
• The Man Group will halt the assistance to the Man Booker Prize as well as International Booker Prize after 18 years.
• From June 1, 2019, the charitable foundation of Michael Moritz KBE and his wife Harriet Heyman, ‘Crankstart' will be the new supporter of the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize.

Know! about Man Booker International Prize

• The Man Booker International Prize, an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom, is a counterpart to the ‘Man Booker Prize' that is awarded only for English-language novels.
• The Prize is open to books in any language that have been translated into English and is distributed in Britain.
• The award was previously from 2005 until 2015 was bestowed every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or available in English translation.
• After 2016, the award became open to books in any language that have been translated into English.
• The award carries prize money of 50,000 pounds that is split equally between the writer and translator.

Defence
AN-32 fleet of IAF allowed to use bio-jet fuel
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the use of blended aviation fuel and about bio-jet fuels)

What's the NEWS

• The approval for use of bio-fuel to fly the Russian made fleet was given by the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC)
• The Indian Air Force's (IAF's) AN-32 aircraft was formally fleet certified to fly on blended aviation fuel which contain up to 10% of indigenous bio-jet fuel.
• The Russian made AN-32 aircraft is IAF's formidable workhorse. It received the approval certificate for flying on blended aviation fuel at the aero-engine test facilities at Chandigarh.

Know! more about it

• The indigenous bio-jet fuel was first produced in 2013 by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP) lab at Dehradun, but due to lack of test facilities in the civil aviation sector it could not be tested or certified for commercial use on aircraft.
• In last one year IAF undertook a series of evaluation tests and trials with this green aviation fuel. The scope of these evaluation tests and checks was in consonance with international aviation standards.
• The recent certification is a huge step towards promoting the ‘Make in India' mission as this bio-fuel would be produced indigenously from Tree Borne Oils (TBOs) which will be sourced from tribal areas and farmers and will further augment their income substantially.

Know! about Bio-Jet Fuel

• This indigenous bio-jet fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chhattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) and then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun.

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