29 May 2024 Daily Current Affairs 

• It was a deep space mission launched by NASA on May 4, 1989, to explore the planet Venus.
• It was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. It was the first interplanetary mission launched from the Space Shuttle and the first spacecraft to use the Inertial Upper Stage booster.
• It was named after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was the first to circumnavigate the earth.
• The primary goal of the Magellan mission was to map the surface of Venus using radar imaging, as the thick atmosphere of the planet made visual observation difficult.
• The Magellan spacecraft, which arrived at Venus in 1990, made the first global map of the surface of Venus as well as global maps of the planet's gravity field.
• The mission produced surprising findings about Venus, including a relatively young planetary surface possibly formed by lava flows from planet-wide volcanic eruptions.
• In October 1994, the Magellan spacecraft intentionally plunged to the surface of Venus to gather data on the planet's atmosphere before it ceased operations.
  • It marked the first time an operating planetary spacecraft had been intentionally crashed.

About Vivekananda Rock Memorial: 

• It is located on a small island off Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.
• The memorial stands on one of the two rocks located about 500 meters off the mainland of Vavathurai.
• The rock is surrounded by the Laccadive Sea, where the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea form a confluence.
• It was built in 1970 in honour of Swami Vivekananda, who is said to have attained enlightenment on the rock.
• It comprises of the 'Shripada Mandapam' and the 'Vivekananda Mandapam'.
• There is also a life-sized bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda on the premises.
• It is also a memorial for which all State Governments and the Central Government contributed.

Who was Swami Vivekananda?

• Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), born Narendranath Datta, was a Hindu monkand one of the most celebrated spiritual leaders of India. 
• He was the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and a world spokesperson for Vedanta.
• He was hailed as a Dhyana Sidha, a meditation expert, by his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa.
• He attempted to combine Indian spirituality with Western material progress, maintaining that the two supplemented and complemented one another. 
• He believed that the path to self-purification is through helping others. He encouraged people to engage in selfless service and to work towards the betterment of society.
• Through his teachings on the four yogas, the harmony of religions, the divinity of the soul, and serving humanity as God, Vivekananda gave spiritual aspirants paths to that realization.
• Vivekananda represented Hinduism at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religionsconvened during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
• After his first visit to the West, Swami Vivekananda went back to India and founded the Ramakrishna Order at Belur outside of Kolkata in 1897.