The first batch of data from a Taiwanese-made radiation detector has arrived after being launched into space last week, National Central University (NCU) said today.
NCU's Deep Space Radiation Probe (DSRP) was aboard the HAKUTO-R Mission 2 lunar lander developed by Japanese space exploration company ispace and launched from Florida at 1:11am on Wednesday last week via the US space technology company SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
Photo courtesy of National Central University
The DSRP is "currently operating normally" and its temperature is "within a safe range," the university said in a news release relating to Taiwan's first collaborative space mission.
After starting operations as scheduled 36 hours following the rocket's launch, the probe sent the data back to the research team in Taiwan.
The researchers "observed two bit flips caused by cosmic rays," NCU said, referring to two instances of radiation apparently affecting electronic systems.
According to NCU, the data showed "brilliant results," although it did not provide any other specifics on the actual data or the amount of data that was received.
The mission's primary purpose is to measure ionizing radiation between the Earth and the Moon, as well as on the surface of the Moon, which is to lead to more accurate radiation-resistant designs for components in the future, the university said.
Taiwan's DSRP is one of three scientific payloads on the Japanese-made lunar lander, called Resilience, which is scheduled to land on the moon after about four months and study the lunar surface for 10 days.
"National Central University's Deep Space Radiation Detector is Taiwan's first scientific payload to leave low earth orbit, and it is setting new records for the flight distance of Taiwan's space payloads every day," NCU said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS