Science & Technology

New Delhi, Dec 27(PTI) Train 18, India's fastest train, will begin operations in January 2019 at a curtailed speed of 130 kmph, sources said Thursday.

Train 18, which is set to replace the Shatabdi series, has the potential to run between 160 kmph to 200 kmph. At trials, it breached the 180-kmph mark.

TIANJIN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Haiyan, a Chinese underwater glider, has set a new endurance record after working for 141 days and sailing 3,619.6 km in the South China Sea, said the developer.

Codenamed Haiyan, which means storm petrel in Chinese, the long-distance glider completed the test in November, renewing its former record of continuously sailing 2,272.4 km over 119 days in the northern part of the South China Sea in the first half of the year, said the program team from the Tianjin University on Wednesday.

Moscow, Dec 26 (AFP) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed final tests of a hypersonic missile, which he earlier said would render existing missile defence systems obsolete.

"On my instructions, the Ministry of Defence prepared and conducted a final test of this system. This has just been completed with absolute success," Putin said during a televised meeting with members of the government.

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Russia has launched the underwater trials of the Poseidon nuclear-capable strategic drone whose development was unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his state-of-the-nation address to both houses of the Russian parliament, a source in the domestic defense industry told TASS on Tuesday.

"In the sea area protected from a potential enemy’s reconnaissance means, the underwater trials of the nuclear propulsion unit of the Poseidon drone are underway," the source said.

Beijing, Dec 22; PTI: China on Saturday launched its first communication satellite to provide broadband internet services worldwide in an apparent bid to rival Google and other international firms.

The satellite was launched from a Long March 11 carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China and is the first in the Hongyun project planned by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).

Balasore (Odisha), Dec 23; PTI: India on Sunday   successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of 4,000 km, as part of a user trial by the Army.

The strategic surface-to-surface missile was flight tested from launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Dr Abdul Kalam Island, earlier known as Wheeler Island, at about 8.35 am, defence sources said.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Autonomous car startup Zoox Inc. on Friday became the first firm in California to transport passengers in self-driving vehicles on public roads in the U.S. state of California, state transport regulators said.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said in a statement that it has authorized Zoox to "participate in California's first pilot program providing 'drivered' autonomous vehicle passenger service to the public."

JIUQUAN, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China launched a tech-experimental satellite as part of the Hongyun Project, a low-orbit broadband communication satellite system on Saturday morning.

A Long March-11 rocket carrying the experimental satellite blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 7：51 a.m.. It successfully entered its preset orbit.

MOSCOW (AP) — Three astronauts returned to Earth Thursday after more than six months aboard the International Space Station.

A Russian Soyuz capsule with NASA’s Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian Sergey Prokopyev and German astronaut Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency landed on the snow-covered steppes in Kazakhstan, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan. They touched down a minute ahead of schedule at 11:02 a.m. local time (0502 GMT; 12:02 a.m. EST).

MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Three Russian engines RD-181 have been handed over to the Orbital Sciences Corporation, the research and industrial association NPO Energromash said on its website on Friday.

"On December 12, three RD-181 engines were handed over to the US customer," the Orbital Sciences Corporation said in the news release.

This is a second consignment of engines delivered to the US company this year. Two RD-181 engines were handed over in June.