Current Affairs 2017 (October) with Latest Current Affairs for preparation of Banking, SSC, IBPS, State Level Public Service Commission, IAS, UPSC and other exams. Current Events October 2017 news summary on current events of national and international importance.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has approved second extension of Dawn mission at Ceres dwarf planet which is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
During this extension, Dawn spacecraft will descend to lower altitudes than ever before at dwarf planet, which it has been orbiting since March 2015. It will continue remainder of its science investigation of Ceres and will remain in a stable orbit indefinitely after its hydrazine fuel runs out.
The priority of second extension mission is to collect data with Dawn’s gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, which measures number and energy of gamma rays and neutrons. The information obtained will help in understanding composition of Ceres’ uppermost layer and presence of ice it contains.
During this extended mission, Dawn spacecraft will take visible-light images of Ceres’ surface geology with its camera, as well as measurements of dwarf planet’s mineralogy with its visible and infrared mapping spectrometer. It will also allow Dawn to be in orbit when dwarf planet goes through perihelion, its closest approach to Sun, which will occur in April 2018.
It was launched by NASA in 2007 to study the two massive protoplanets of the asteroid belt: Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres, celestial bodies believed to have accreted early in the history of the solar system. The mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Dawn spacecraft’s major components are contributed by NASA’s European partners i.e. from German Aerospace Center, Italian National Astrophysical Institute and Italian Space Agency and. It is NASA’s first exploratory mission to use ion propulsion to enter orbits.
It had created history by becoming only mission ever to orbit two extraterrestrial targets. It orbited giant asteroid Vesta for 14 months from 2011 to 2012, then continued on to dwarf planet Ceres, where it has been in orbit since March 2015.
Tags: Ceres • Dawn mission • NASA • Science and Technology
The Peruvian Congress has approved a bill to authorises the medicinal and therapeutic use of cannabis (marijuana) in the country. It makes production, import and commercial sale of marijuana and its derivatives legal.
With this Peru became sixth country in Latin America to legalise cannabis. Uruguay was first in 2013, allowing sales of cannabis any purpose. It was followed by Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.
Marijuana is greenish-gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds and flowers of Cannabis sativa – the hemp plant. Most people smoke marijuana, though it can also be used in other forms such as edibles, powders and oils. It used for controlling pain for medical issues, like cancer, nervous system diseases, glaucoma, migraines, etc and also used to treat nausea and improve appetites for people with HIV or other chronic illnesses.
The health effects of marijuana use can lead to a rapid heart rate, increase blood pressure, red eyes, dry mouth, increased appetite and slowed reaction time in short term. In long term, daily use of marijuana during adolescent years may result in impaired learning, memory and decreased IQ.
Tags: Cannabis • Latin America • Marijuana • Medical • Peru
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