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Vol 19 - Issue 26
Saturday, July 27, 2019
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India’s historic moon mission on its way to lunar south pole
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nown as Chandrayaan-2, the Indian spacecraft is now on its way to the moon’s south polar region, and if all goes well, its lander will touch down there in early September. With this mission, India is aiming to become the first country ever to achieve a soft, controlled landing so close to the moon’s south pole, and just the fourth country ever to land softly on the lunar surface, joining Russia, the United States, and China. Its scientific instruments will shed light on the moon’s mysterious interior and thin exosphere, and they will provide key details about the chemistry of the moon’s south polar region, one of the most compelling camping grounds for future lunar astronauts. What is Chandrayaan-2, and why is it significant? The Chandrayaan-2 mission is the latest lunar spacecraft sent to the
moon by India’s national space agency, scientific community. the Indian Space Research Organization, “Chandrayaan-1 in the last decade or ISRO. The mission aims to follow up inspired so many levels within the country, and I am one of them; I started my Ph.D. in 2009 after the mission was launched, and I was an ISRO research fellow for the next seven years,” says Sriram Bhiravarasu, a postdoctoral fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute and a former member of the Chandrayaan-2 radar team. “It’s a big part of me.” Chandrayaan-2’s safe descent would add to a remarkable string on 2008’s Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, India’s of successes for ISRO’s planetary science first lunar spacecraft. Though the orbiter program. When the Mangalyaan Mars died prematurely—10 months into a two- orbiter safely arrived at Mars in 2014, year-mission—its data proved crucial it made India the first country ever to in detecting frozen water on the moon’s successfully visit the red planet on its surface. It also was an inspiration to India’s first attempt. ISRO’s science missions
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South Asian journalist tells Calgary court attack was attempt to stop free speech Calgary South Asia radio host Kumar Sharma believes a gang assault on him 11 months ago was an attack on freedom of speech.Sharma told a provincial court sentencing hearing Friday that the assault has had a chilling effect on his work as a journalist. “The physical assault which happened on Aug. 19, 2018, in which I was viciously attacked by a group of more than seven Continued on page 9
Vancouver airport worker says he was beaten over denied smoke break
Radio host Kumar Sharma is swarmed by a group of people in August 2018
RCMP lays second-degree murder charges against BC fugitives RCMP have laid second-degree murder charges against two BC teens in the death of a Vancouver man as they intensify a manhunt in Northern Manitoba for the two fugitives. Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, are charged in the death of Leonard Dyck, 64. The two men are also suspects in the deaths of American Chynna Deese, 24, and her 23-year-old Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler. Charges have not been laid in their deaths. Northern B.C. killings: What we know so far about the suspects and victims Leonard Dyck, 64, was found dead on a B.C. highway on July 19, 2019. Police have charged Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, with second-degree murder in Dyck’s death.
A worker at Vancouver International Airport says he was swarmed and beaten by six men as he left work early Monday morning. Amit Prasad (pictured) spoke with media from his hospital bed Friday, where he says he’s recovering from three fractures in his spine and one in his face. “The pain was so bad I screamed,” said Prasad. “I thought they were going to kill me, so I had to fight back … They kicked me in the back, and I fell to the ground. I fought back and
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South Asian sisters win right to get same share of parents $9M estate as their brothers Judge changes wills after Nahar and Nihal Litt left 93% of their estate to 2 sons When they died three years ago, Nahar and Nihal Litt left behind an estate valued at more than $9 million. They willed 93 per cent of that to their two sons, leaving their four daughters to split what was left. That’s despite the fact that the daughters, now in their 50s and 60s, took on most of the work of
caring for their aging parents in the years before they died, according to a B.C. Supreme Court judgment. They also helped build their parents’ fortune, working on family-owned farms beginning when they were children.
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