Science wrap: New Covid subvariant, Mars rover dies and India's Rs 10,000 crore space mission

While this week in science saw some major updates relating to space exploration, panic got back on Earth as Covid showed it isn’t finished scaring people. With a new subvariant of Omicron called BF.7 detected in China, 2023 seems to be a year that needs adequate medical preparations. 

1- InSight Lander sends its last message from Mars

“My power’s really low…thanks for staying with me”, read the final message of Mars InSight lander which has finally overstayed its welcome on the Red Planet. The rover first landed on Mars four years ago and has offered some valuable insights about the planet’s geology, measuring over 1,300 seismic events and conducting several geological excavations. The results offered details on Mars’s interior layers and its liquid core.

The solar-powered bank of the rover was running low as clouds of dust and smoke have been covering the planet. NASA had already issued a warning in November implying that the rover is nearing its end. 

2- BF.7 to cause millions of deaths in China?

The new Omicron subvariant BF.7 is reportedly more infectious than the other variants of coronavirus known so far and is capable of infecting even those fully vaccinated against the virus. With one million deaths projected by an epidemilogist in China in 2023, BF.7 is definitely a threat that is not to be taken lightly. 

However, before we enter in panic mode, the new variant doesn’t imply that it hasn’t been outside China before. According to microbiologist Dr. Gagandeep Kang, the variants now circulating in China have been in tother territories for months now. “The behaviour of the virus is not any different from expected.”, one of his tweets reads. 

And with Omicron not being as severe as Delta, the death rate might hopefully be lower in countries like India that are mass-vaccinated. To know the answers for more Covid questions, READ: All your current Covid questions, answered by a virologist.

3- India’s first crewed space mission Gaganyaan to start tests in 2024

Gaganyaan, India’s first-ever space mission to send astronauts to the cosmos, is gradually turning into a reality. Delayed by the pandemic, the Rs 10,000 crore mission will be undergoing its first round of test flights in the fourth quarter of 2024. The astronauts are selected from Indian Air Force and are currently undergoing mission-specific training in Bengaluru. 

This will mark a historic moment for ISRO’s indigenous missions as Rakesh Sharma, the first and only Indian to go to space, flew aboard a Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11 back in 1984. The chief purpose of the mission would be to send at least three Indian space astronauts to low Earth orbit for seven days aboard the Gaganyaan spacecraft.

4- Russia plans rescue op for three trapped cosmonauts 

On December 14, Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 space capsule faced a leak that lasted for hours with snow flake-like particles spewing from the rear end. Three Russian astronauts are currently trapped in the capsule with the Russian space agency Roscosmos planning a rescue operation. 

Roscosmos director Yuri Borisov told media outlets that the capsule’s cognition will be assessed and the agency would make a decision on how to proceed around December 27. The hole in the Soyuz is estimated to be just 0.8 millimeters (0.03 inches) and it is highly likely that an empty crew capsule would be sent towards its direction to carry the three crew members.