title: Barn owl

text: Barn owls are not particularly territorial but have a home range inside which they forage. For males in Scotland this home range has a radius of about from the nest site and an average area of about . Female home ranges largely coincide with that of their mates. Outside the breeding season, males and females usually roost separately, each one having about three favoured sites in which to conceal themselves by day, and which are also visited for short periods during the night. Roosting sites include holes in trees, fissures in cliffs, disused buildings, chimneys, and hay sheds, and are often small in comparison to nesting sites. As the breeding season approaches, the birds move back to the vicinity of a chosen nest to roost. In a situation where a bird (e.g., pigeon) intrudes an owl nest, a male barn owl is observed to be docile and curious, while a female owl is protective of its chicks and may attack the bird, and the chicks themselves are seen to display a defensive behaviour.


title: Barn owl

text: The barn owl is a bird of open country, such as farmland or grassland with some interspersed woodland, usually at altitudes below but occasionally as high as in the tropics, such as in Ethiopia's Degua Tembien mountain range. This owl prefers to hunt along the edges of woods or in rough grass strips adjoining pasture. It has an effortless wavering flight as it quarters the ground, alert to the sounds made by potential prey. Like most owls, the barn owl flies silently; tiny serrations on the leading edges of its flight feathers and a hairlike fringe on the trailing edges help to break up the flow of air over the wings, thereby reducing turbulence and the noise that accompanies it. Hairlike extensions to the barbules of its feathers, which give the plumage a soft feel, also minimise noise produced during wingbeats. Behavioural and environmental preferences may differ slightly even between neighbouring subspecies, as shown in the case of the European "T. a. guttata" and "T. a. alba", which probably evolved, respectively, in allopatric glacial refugia in southeastern Europe, and in Iberia or southern France.


title: Barn owl

text: Hunting in twilight or at night, the barn owl can target its prey and dive to the ground. Its legs and toes are long and slender, which improves its ability to forage among dense foliage or beneath the snow, and gives it a wide spread of talons when attacking prey. This bird hunts by flying slowly, quartering the ground and hovering over spots that may conceal prey. It has long, broad wings that enable it to manoeuvre and turn abruptly. It has acute hearing, with ears placed asymmetrically, which improves detection of sound position and distance; the bird does not require sight to hunt. The facial disc helps with the bird's hearing, as is shown by the fact that, with the ruff feathers removed, the bird can still determine a sound source's direction, although without the disc it can't determine the source's height. It may perch on branches, fence posts, or other lookouts to scan its surroundings; and this is the main means of prey location in the oil palm plantations of Malaysia.


title: Barn owl

text: Rodents and other small mammals may constitute over ninety percent of the prey caught. Birds are also taken, as well as lizards, amphibians, fish, and insects. Even when they are plentiful, and other prey scarce, earthworms do not seem to be consumed. In North America and most of Europe, voles predominate in the diet and shrews are the second most common food choice. In Ireland, the accidental introduction of the bank vole in the 1950s led to a major shift in the barn owl's diet: where their ranges overlap, the vole is now by far the largest prey item. Mice and rats are the main foodstuffs in the Mediterranean region, the tropics, subtropics, and Australia. Gophers, muskrats, hares, rabbits, and bats are also preyed upon. Barn owls are usually specialist feeders in productive areas and generalists in areas where prey is scarce.


title: Barn owl

text: On the Cape Verde Islands, geckos are the mainstay of the diet, supplemented by birds such as plovers, godwits, turnstones, weavers, and pratincoles. On a rocky islet off the coast of California, a clutch of four young were being reared on a diet of Leach's storm petrel ("Oceanodroma leucorhoa"). On bird-rich islands, a barn owl might include birds as some fifteen to twenty percent of its diet, while in grassland it will gorge itself on swarming termites, or on Orthoptera such as Copiphorinae katydids, Jerusalem crickets (Stenopelmatidae), or true crickets (Gryllidae). Smaller prey is usually torn into chunks and eaten completely, including bones and fur, while prey larger than about —such as baby rabbits, "Cryptomys" blesmols, or "Otomys" vlei rats—is usually dismembered and the inedible parts discarded.


title: Barn owl

text: Compared to other owls of similar size, the barn owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Relative to its size, barn owls consume more rodents. Studies have shown that an individual barn owl may eat one or more voles (or their equivalent) per night, equivalent to about fourteen percent of the bird's bodyweight. Excess food is often cached at roosting sites and can be used when food is scarce. This makes the barn owl one of the most economically valuable wildlife animals for agriculture. Farmers often find these owls more effective than poison in keeping down rodent pests, and they can encourage barn owl habitation by providing nesting sites.


title: Barn owl

text: Barn owls living in tropical regions can breed at any time of year, but some seasonality in nesting is still evident. Where there are distinct wet and dry seasons, egg-laying usually takes place during the dry season, with increased rodent prey becoming available to the birds as the vegetation dies off. In arid regions, such as parts of Australia, breeding may be irregular and may happen in wet periods, with the resultant temporary increase in the populations of small mammals. In temperate climates, nesting seasons become more distinct; and there are some seasons of the year when no egg-laying takes place. In Europe and North America, most nesting takes place between March and June, when temperatures are increasing. The actual dates of egg-laying vary by year and by location, being correlated with the amount of prey-rich foraging habitat around the nest site. An increase in rodent populations will usually stimulate the local barn owls to begin nesting; and, consequently, two broods are often raised in a good year, even in the cooler parts of the owl's range.


title: Barn owl

text: Females are ready to breed at ten to eleven months of age. Barn owls are usually monogamous, sticking to one partner for life unless one of a pair dies. During the non-breeding season they may roost separately; but as the breeding season approaches, they return to their established nesting site, showing considerable site fidelity. In colder climates, in harsh weather, and where winter food supplies may be scarce, they may roost in farm buildings and in barns between hay bales; but they then run the risk that their selected nesting hole may be taken over by some other species. Single males may establish feeding territories, patrolling the hunting areas, occasionally stopping to hover, and perching on lofty eminences where they screech to attract a mate. Where a female has lost her mate but maintained her breeding site, she usually seems to attract a new spouse.


title: Barn owl

text: Once a pair-bond has been formed, the male will make short flights at dusk around the nesting and roosting sites and then longer circuits to establish a home range. When he is later joined by the female, there is much chasing, turning, and twisting in flight, and frequent screeches, the male's being high-pitched and tremulous and the female's lower and harsher. In later stages of courtship, the male emerges at dusk, climbs high into the sky, and then swoops back to the vicinity of the female at speed. He then sets off to forage. The female meanwhile sits in an eminent position and preens, returning to the nest a minute or two before the male arrives with food for her. Such feeding behaviour of the female by the male is common, helps build the pair-bond, and increases the female's fitness before egg-laying commences.


title: Barn owl

text: Barn owls are cavity nesters. They choose holes in trees, fissures in cliff faces, the large nests of other birds such as the hamerkop ("Scopus umbretta"), and, particularly in Europe and North America, old buildings such as farm sheds and church towers. Buildings are preferred to trees in wetter climates in the British Isles and provide better protection for fledglings from inclement weather. Tree nests tend to be in open habitats rather than in the middle of woodland, and nest holes tend to be higher in North America than in Europe, because of possible predation by raccoons ("Procyon lotor"). No nesting material is used as such but, as the female sits incubating the eggs, she draws in the dry furry material of which her regurgitated pellets are composed, so that by the time the chicks are hatched, they are surrounded by a carpet of shredded pellets. Oftentimes other birds such as jackdaws ("Corvus monedula") nest in the same hollow tree or building and seem to live harmoniously with the owls.


title: Barn owl

text: Before commencing laying, the female spends much time near the nest and is entirely provisioned by the male. Meanwhile, the male roosts nearby and may cache any prey that is surplus to their requirements. When the female has reached peak weight, the male provides a ritual presentation of food and copulation occurs at the nest. The female lays eggs on alternate days and the clutch size averages about five eggs (the range being two to nine). The eggs are chalky white, somewhat elliptical, and about the size of bantam eggs. Incubation begins as soon as the first egg is laid. While the female is sitting on the nest, the male is constantly bringing more provisions, and they may pile up beside the female. The incubation period is about thirty days, hatching takes place over a prolonged period, and the youngest chick may be several weeks younger than its oldest sibling. In years with a plentiful supply of food, there may be a hatching success rate of about 75%. The male continues to copulate with the female when he brings food, which makes the newly hatched chicks vulnerable to injury.


title: Barn owl

text: The chicks are at first covered with greyish-white down and develop rapidly. Within a week they can hold their heads up and shuffle around in the nest. The female tears up the food brought by the male and distributes it to the chicks. Initially, the chicks make a "chittering" sound but this soon changes into a food-demanding "snore". By two weeks old they are already half their adult weight and look naked, as the amount of down is insufficient to cover their growing bodies. By three weeks old, quills are starting to push through the skin and the chicks stand, making snoring noises with wings raised and tail stumps waggling, begging for food items which are now given whole. Atypically among birds, barn owl chicks can "negotiate" and allow weaker ones to eat first, possibly in exchange for grooming. The male is the main provider of food until all the chicks are at least four weeks old, at which time the female begins to leave the nest and starts to roost elsewhere. By the sixth week the chicks are as big as the adults, but have slimmed down somewhat by the ninth week when they are fully fledged and start leaving the nest briefly themselves. They are still dependent on the parent birds until about thirteen weeks and receive training from the female in finding, and eventually catching, prey.


title: Barn owl

text: Feathers become abraded over time and all birds need to replace them at intervals. Barn owls are particularly dependent on their ability to fly quietly and manoeuvre efficiently. In temperate areas the owls undergo a prolonged moult that lasts through three phases over a period of two years. The female starts to moult while incubating the eggs and brooding the chicks, a time when the male feeds her, so she does not need to fly much. The first primary feather to be shed is a central one, number 6, and it has regrown completely by the time the female resumes hunting. Feathers 4, 5, 7, and 8 are dropped at a similar time the following year and feathers 1, 2, 3, 9 and 10 in the bird's third year of adulthood. The secondary and tail feathers are lost and replaced over a similar timescale, again starting while incubation is taking place. In the case of the tail, the two outermost tail feathers are first shed, followed by the two central ones, the other tail feathers being shed the following year.


title: Barn owl

text: The male owl moults rather later in the year than the female, at a time when there is an abundance of food, the female has recommenced hunting, and the demands of the chicks are lessening. Unmated males without family responsibilities often start losing feathers earlier in the year. Their moult follows a pattern similarly prolonged as that of the female. The first sign that the male is moulting is often when a tail feather has been dropped at the roost. A consequence of moulting is the loss of thermal insulation. This is of little importance in the tropics, and barn owls there usually moult a complete complement of flight feathers annually. The hot-climate moult may still take place over a long period but is usually concentrated at a particular time of year outside the breeding season.


title: Barn owl

text: Predators of the barn owl include large American opossums ("Didelphis"), the common raccoon, and similar carnivorous mammals, as well as eagles, larger hawks, and other owls. Among the latter, the great horned owl ("Bubo virginianus"), in the Americas, and the Eurasian eagle-owl ("B. bubo") are noted predators of barn owls. Despite some sources claiming that there is little evidence of predation by great horned owls, one study from Washington found that 10.9% of the local great horned owl's diet was made up of barn owls. In Africa, the principal predators of barn owls are Verreaux's eagle-owls ("Bubo lacteus") and Cape eagle-owls ("B. capensis"). In Europe, although less dangerous than the eagle-owls, the chief diurnal predators are the northern goshawk ("Accipiter gentilis") and the common buzzard ("Buteo buteo"). About 12 other large diurnal raptors and owls have also been reported as predators of barn owls, ranging from the similar-sized Cooper's hawk ("Accipiter cooperii") and scarcely larger tawny owl ("Strix aluco") to huge bald ("Haliaeetus leucocephalus") and golden eagles ("Aquila chrysaetos"). As a result of improved conservation measures, the populations of the northern goshawk and eagle-owls are increasing, thus increasing the incidence of hunting on barn owls where the species coexist.


title: Barn owl

text: When disturbed at its roosting site, an angry barn owl lowers its head and sways it from side to side, or the head may be lowered and stretched forward and the wings outstretched and drooped while the bird emits hisses and makes snapping noises with its beak. Another defensive attitude involves lying flat on the ground or crouching with wings spread out.


title: Barn owl

text: Barn owls are hosts to a wide range of parasites. Fleas are present at nesting sites, and externally the birds are attacked by feather lice and feather mites which chew the barbules of the feathers and which are transferred from bird to bird by direct contact. Blood-sucking flies, such as "Ornithomyia avicularia", are often present, moving about among the plumage. Internal parasites include the fluke "Strigea strigis", the tapeworm "Paruternia candelabraria", several species of parasitic round worm, and spiny-headed worms in the genus "Centrorhynchus". These gut parasites are acquired when the birds feed on infected prey. There is some indication that female birds with more and larger spots have a greater resistance to external parasites. This is correlated with smaller bursa of Fabricius, glands associated with antibody production, and a lower fecundity of the blood-sucking fly "Carnus hemapterus", which attacks nestlings.


title: Barn owl

text: Unusually for a medium-sized carnivorous animal, the barn owl exhibits "r"-selection, producing a large number of offspring with a high growth rate, which have a low probability of surviving to adulthood. Its typical lifespan is around four years. In Scotland, the species has been recorded living up to 18 and possibly even 34 years. A significant cause of death in temperate areas is starvation, particularly during the winter, and with significant snow cover.


title: Barn owl

text: Collision with road vehicles is another cause of death, and may result when birds forage on mown verges. Some of these birds are in poor condition and may have been less able to evade oncoming vehicles than fit individuals. In some locations, road mortality rates can be particularly high, with collision rates being influenced by higher commercial traffic, roadside verges that are grass rather than shrubs, and where small mammals are abundant. Historically, many deaths were caused by the use of pesticides, and this may still be the case in some parts of the world. Collisions with power-lines kill some birds; and being shot accounts for others, especially in Mediterranean regions.


title: Barn owl

text: Barn owls are relatively common throughout most of their range and not considered globally threatened. If considered as a single global species, the barn owl is the second most widely distributed of all raptors, behind only the peregrine falcon. It is wider-ranging than the also somewhat cosmopolitan osprey. Furthermore, the barn owl is likely the most numerous of all raptors, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimating, for all barn owl individuals, a population possibly as large as nearly 10 million individuals (throughout the Americas, the American barn owl species may comprise nearly 2 million). Severe local declines due to organochlorine (e.g., DDT) poisoning in the mid 20th century and rodenticides in the late 20th century have affected some populations, particularly in Europe and North America. Intensification of agricultural practices often means that the rough grassland that provides the best foraging habitat is lost. While barn owls are prolific breeders and able to recover from short-term population decreases, they are not as common in some areas as they used to be. A 1995–1997 survey put their British population at between 3,000 and 5,000 breeding pairs, out of an average of about 150,000 pairs in the whole of Europe. In the US, barn owls are listed as endangered species in seven Midwestern states (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri), and in the European Community they are considered a Species of European Concern.


title: Barn owl

text: In Canada, barn owls are no longer common and are most likely to be found in coastal British Columbia south of Vancouver, having become extremely rare in a previous habitat, southern Ontario. In spite of a Recovery Strategy, particularly in 2007–2010 in Ontario, only a handful of wild, breeding barn owls existed in the province in 2018. This is primarily because of disappearing grasslands where the bird hunted in the past, but according to a study, also because of "harsh winters, predation, road mortality and use of rodenticides". The species is listed as endangered overall in Canada, due to loss of habitat and a lack of nesting sites.


title: Barn owl

text: In the Canary Islands, a somewhat larger number of these birds still seem to exist on the island of Lanzarote, but altogether this particular subspecies ("T. a. gracilirostris", the Canary barn owl) is precariously rare: perhaps fewer than two hundred individuals still remain. Similarly, the birds on the western Canary Islands, which are usually assigned to this subspecies, have severely declined; and wanton destruction of the birds seems to be significant. On Tenerife they seem relatively numerous; but on the other islands the situation looks about as bleak as on Fuerteventura. Due to the assignment to this subspecies of birds common in mainland Spain, the western Canary Islands population is not classified as threatened.


title: Barn owl

text: Nest boxes are used primarily when populations suffer declines. Although such declines have many causes, among them are the lack of available natural nesting sites. Early successes among conservationists have led to the widespread provision of nest boxes, which has become the most used form of population management. The barn owl accepts the provided nest boxes and sometimes prefers them to natural sites. The nest boxes are placed under the eaves of buildings and in other locations. The upper bound of the number of barn owl pairs depends on the abundance of food at nesting sites. Conservationists encourage farmers and landowners to install nest boxes by pointing out that the resultant increased barn owl population would provide natural rodent control. In some conservation projects, the use of rodenticides for pest control was replaced by the installation of nest boxes for barn owls, which has been shown to be a less costly method of rodent control.


title: Barn owl

text: Common names such as "demon owl", "death owl", "ghost owl", or "lich owl" (from "lich", an old term for a corpse) show that rural populations in many places considered barn owls to be birds of evil omen. For example, the Tzeltal people in Mexico regard them as "disease givers". These owls don't "hoot", instead emitting raspy screeches and hissing noises, and their white face and underbelly feathers, visible as they fly overhead, make them look "ghostly". Consequently, they were often killed by farmers who were unaware of the benefits these birds bring. Negative perceptions can also be attributed to the false belief that they could eat large animals, such as chickens and cats. In Thailand, there are similar beliefs like this. Thai people believe when the barn owl flies over or perches on the roof of any house, that house must have its inhabitants die. In South Africa, barn owls are often associated with witchcraft and are persecuted. In some South African cultures, these owls are used in 'muthi' (traditional medicine) and are believed to give special powers when consumed.


title: Barn owl

text: In India, beliefs about the barn owl are completely different. Hindus consider the species of owl to be the mount and symbol of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and fortune.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, primarily for flights to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX has also launched private missions such as Inspiration4 and Axiom Mission 1. There are two variants: Crew Dragon, a spacecraft capable of ferrying four crew, and Cargo Dragon, an updated replacement for the original Dragon 1. The spacecraft consists of a reuseable space capsule and an expendable trunk module. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and the capsule returns to Earth via splashdown.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Cargo Dragon supplies cargo to the ISS under a Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract with NASA. The first flight of Dragon 2 in a cargo configuration launched in December 2020. It shares this duty with Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems' Cygnus spacecraft, and Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser spacecraft is expected to join them .


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: , Crew Dragon is the only U.S. human-rated orbital transport spacecraft, the only reusable orbital crewed spacecraft and the only reusable orbital cargo spacecraft currently in operation. Its primary role is to transport crews to and from the ISS under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, succeeding the crew orbital transportation capabilities of the Space Shuttle, which retired from service in 2011. It will be joined by Boeing Starliner in this role . Crew Dragon is also used for commercial flights, some of them to the ISS, and is expected to be used to shuttle people to and from Axiom Space's planned space station.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: There are two variants of Dragon 2: Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon. Crew Dragon was initially called "DragonRider" and it was intended from the beginning to support a crew of seven or a combination of crew and cargo. Earlier spacecraft had a berthing port and were berthed to ISS by ISS personnel. Dragon 2 instead has an IDSS-compatible docking port to dock to the International Docking Adapter ports on ISS. It is able to perform fully autonomous rendezvous and docking with manual override ability For typical missions, Crew Dragon will remain docked to the ISS for a period of 180 days, but is designed to remain on the station for up to 210 days, matching the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. SpaceX is using the Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicle to launch Dragon 2.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Crew Dragon incorporates an integrated pusher launch escape system consisting of eight SuperDraco engines, capable of accelerating the vehicle away from the rocket in an emergency. SpaceX originally intended to land Crew Dragon on land using the SuperDraco engines, with parachutes and an ocean splashdown available in the case of an aborted launch. Precision water landing under parachutes was proposed to NASA as "the baseline return and recovery approach for the first few flights" of Crew Dragon. Propulsive landing was later cancelled, leaving ocean splashdown under parachutes as the only option. Paragon Space Development Corporation assisted in developing Crew Dragon's life-support system.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: In 2012, SpaceX was in talks with Orbital Outfitters about developing space suits to wear during launch and re-entry. Each crew member wears a custom space suit fitted for them. The suit is primarily designed for use inside the Dragon (IVA type suit): however, in the case of a rapid cabin depressurization, the suit can protect the crew members. The suit can also provide cooling for astronauts during normal flight. For the Demo-1 mission, a test dummy nicknamed Ripley was fitted with the spacesuit and sensors. The spacesuit is made from Nomex, a fire retardant fabric similar to Kevlar.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The spacecraft's design was unveiled on 29 May 2014, during a press event at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. In October 2014, NASA selected the Dragon spacecraft as one of the candidates to fly American astronauts to the International Space Station, under the Commercial Crew Program. In March 2022, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told Reuters that "We are finishing our final (capsule), but we still are manufacturing components, because we'll be refurbishing".


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: SpaceX's CCtCap contract values each seat on a Crew Dragon flight to be between US$60–67 million, while the face value of each seat has been estimated by NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to be around US$55 million. This contrasts with the 2014 Soyuz launch price of US$76 million per seat for NASA astronauts. In case of private astronauts riding on Crew Dragon, SpaceX gives them Crew Dragon Astronaut Wings.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Although Dragon 2 was intended from the earliest design concept to carry crew, or with fewer seats, both crew and cargo, a second round of multi-year cargo supply contracts (also known as CRS-2) was solicited by NASA in 2014, to supply the ISS in 2020–2024. This led to SpaceX proposing a separately-named model, Cargo Dragon, for the NASA flights. SpaceX won a contract award for Cargo Dragon as a result of the CRS-2 bid competition, with contracts awarded in January 2016 for six flights.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Cargo Dragons are different from the crewed variant by launching without seats, cockpit controls, astronaut life support systems, or SuperDraco abort engines. Cargo Dragon improves on many aspects of the original Dragon design, including the recovery and refurbishment process. SpaceX plans to fly each Cargo Dragon capsule up to five times.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Dragon 2 is partially reusable, potentially resulting in a significant cost reduction. After earlier plans of SpaceX to use new capsules for every crewed flight for NASA both agreed to reuse Crew Dragon capsules for NASA flights. Cargo Dragon can carry to the ISS; Crew Dragon has a capacity of seven astronauts (only four seats are used for NASA missions). Above the seats, there is a three-screen control panel, a toilet (with privacy curtain), and the docking hatch. Ocean landings are accomplished with four main parachutes in both variants. The parachute system was fully redesigned from the one used in the prior Dragon capsule, due to the need to deploy the parachutes under a variety of launch abort scenarios.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Crew Dragon has eight side-mounted SuperDraco engines, clustered in redundant pairs in four engine pods, with each engine able to produce of thrust to be used for launch aborts. Each pod also contains four Draco thrusters that can be used for attitude control and orbital maneuvers. The SuperDraco engine combustion chamber is printed of Inconel, an alloy of nickel and iron, using a process of direct metal laser sintering. Engines are contained in a protective nacelle to prevent fault propagation if an engine fails.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Once in orbit, Dragon 2 is able to autonomously dock to the ISS. Dragon 1 was berthed using the Canadarm2 robotic arm, requiring substantially more involvement from ISS crew. Pilots of Crew Dragon retain the ability to dock the spacecraft using manual controls interfaced with a static tablet-like computer. The spacecraft can be operated in full vacuum, and "the crew will wear SpaceX-designed space suits to protect them from a rapid cabin depressurization emergency event". Also, the spacecraft will be able to return safely if a leak occurs "of up to an equivalent orifice of in diameter".


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Propellant and helium pressurant for both launch aborts and on-orbit maneuvering is contained in composite-carbon-overwrap titanium spherical tanks. A PICA-X heat shield protects the capsule during reentry. A reusable nose cone "protects the vessel and the docking adaptor during ascent and reentry", pivoting on a hinge to enable in-space docking and returning to the covered position for reentry and future launches.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The trunk is the third structural element of the spacecraft, containing solar panels, heat-removal radiators, and fins to provide aerodynamic stability during emergency aborts.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The previous Cargo Dragon's deployable solar arrays have been eliminated and are now built into the trunk itself. This increases volume space, reduces the number of mechanisms on the vehicle and further increases reliability.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Announced on 29 August 2021 during the CRS-23 launch is a new feature called Extend-the-Lab installed in the Cargo Dragon. "Our new Cargo Dragon vehicle is also able to act as a laboratory in the advancement of science and research. We call this capability Extend-the-Lab. It allows some powered payloads to remain on Dragon for experimentation during the duration of the mission. This is especially helpful when there is limited to no space on station for additional science. And it also helps cut down the amount of time the crew has to move payloads in and out of Dragon. For CRS-23 there are 3 Extend-the-Lab payloads launching with the mission, and once docked, a 4th which is currently already on the space station will be added to Dragon".


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: For missions not involving docking, the capsule docking adapter which is normally used to dock with the International Space Station can be replaced by a domed plexiglass window. This provides panoramic views of space and the Earth like the Cupola Module on the ISS to provide interest and make up space left after removal of the docking adapter during flight. The dome's first use was on the Inspiration4 flight.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Dragon is useful to both commercial and government customers. SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace were working together to support round-trip transport of commercial passengers to low Earth orbit (LEO) destinations, but the plan was canceled. Instead Axiom launches commercial astronauts to the Space Station and intends to eventually launch to their own private space station. NASA flights to the ISS will only have four astronauts, with the added payload mass and volume used to carry pressurized cargo.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: On 16 September 2014, NASA announced that SpaceX and Boeing had been selected to provide crew transportation to the ISS. SpaceX will receive US$2.6 billion under this contract. Dragon was the less expensive proposal, but NASA's William H. Gerstenmaier considered the CST-100 proposal the stronger of the two. However, Crew Dragon's first operational flight, SpaceX Crew-1, was on 16 November 2020 after several test flights while the CST-100 suffered several problems and delays, with its first operational flight slipped to no earlier than February 2023.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: In a departure from the prior NASA practice, where construction contracts with commercial firms led to direct NASA operation of the spacecraft, NASA is purchasing space transport services from SpaceX, including construction, launch, and operation of the Dragon 2.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: In August 2018, NASA and SpaceX agreed on the loading procedures for propellants, vehicle fluids and crew. High-pressure helium will be loaded first, followed by the passengers approximately two hours prior to scheduled launch; the ground crew will then depart the launch pad and move to a safe distance. The launch escape system will be activated approximately 40 minutes prior to launch, with propellant loading commencing several minutes later.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The first automated test mission launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on 2 March 2019. After schedule slips, the first crewed flight launched on 30 May 2020 with the launch of the Demo-2 mission.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: In June 2019, Bigelow Space Operations announced it had reserved with SpaceX up to four missions of four passengers each to ISS as early as 2020 and planned to sell them for around US$52 million per seat. These plans were canceled by September 2019.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: On 18 February 2020, building on development for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, Space Adventures announced an agreement with SpaceX to fly up to four paying customers on a standalone mission aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft in late 2021 or 2022 that could reach an altitude two-to-three times higher than the International Space Station. However, by October 2021 the contract had expired, but a similar mission Polaris Dawn will be flown on which the first private spacewalk shall be conducted.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: SpaceX planned a series of four flight tests for the Crew Dragon: a "pad abort" test, an uncrewed orbital flight to the ISS, an in-flight abort test, and finally a 14-day crewed demonstration mission to the ISS, which was initially planned for July 2019, but after a Dragon capsule explosion, was delayed to May 2020.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The pad abort test was conducted successfully on 6 May 2015 at SpaceX's leased SLC-40. Dragon landed safely in the ocean to the east of the launchpad 99 seconds after ignition of the SuperDraco engines. While a flight-like Dragon 2 and trunk were used for the pad abort test, they rested atop a truss structure for the test rather than a full Falcon 9 rocket. A crash test dummy embedded with a suite of sensors was placed inside the test vehicle to record acceleration loads and forces at the crew seat, while the remaining six seats were loaded with weights to simulate full-passenger-load weight. The test objective was to demonstrate sufficient total impulse, thrust and controllability to conduct a safe pad abort. A fuel mixture ratio issue was detected after the flight in one of the eight SuperDraco engines causing it to under perform, but did not materially affect the flight.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: On 24 November 2015, SpaceX conducted a test of Dragon 2's hovering abilities at the firm's rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. In a video, the spacecraft is shown suspended by a hoisting cable and igniting its SuperDraco engines to hover for about 5 seconds, balancing on its 8 engines firing at reduced thrust to compensate exactly for gravity. The test vehicle was the same capsule that performed the pad abort test earlier in 2015; it was nicknamed DragonFly.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: In 2015, NASA named its first Commercial Crew astronaut cadre of four veteran astronauts to work with SpaceX and Boeing – Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Sunita Williams, and Douglas Hurley. The Demo-1 mission completed the last milestone of the Commercial Crew Development program, paving the way to starting commercial services under an upcoming ISS Crew Transportation Services contract. On 3 August 2018, NASA announced the crew for the DM-2 mission. The crew of two consisted of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Behnken previously flew as mission specialist on the STS-123 and the STS-130 missions. Hurley previously flew as a pilot on the STS-127 mission and on the final Space Shuttle mission, the STS-135 mission.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The first orbital test of Crew Dragon was an uncrewed mission, officially designated "Crew Demo-1" and launched on 2 March 2019. The spacecraft tested the approach and automated docking procedures with the ISS, remained docked until 8 March 2019, then conducted the full re-entry, splashdown and recovery steps to qualify for a crewed mission. Life-support systems were monitored all along the test flight. The same capsule was planned to be re-used in June 2019 for an in-flight abort test before it exploded on 20 April 2019.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: On 20 April 2019, the Crew Dragon capsule used in the Demo-1 mission was destroyed in an explosion during static fire testing at the Landing Zone 1 facility. On the day of the explosion, the initial testing of the Crew Dragon's Draco thrusters was successful, with the anomaly occurring during the test of the SuperDraco abort system.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Telemetry, high-speed camera footage, and analysis of recovered debris indicate the problem occurred when a small amount of dinitrogen tetroxide leaked into a helium line used to pressurize the propellant tanks. The leakage apparently occurred during pre-test processing. As a result, the pressurization of the system 100 ms before firing damaged a check valve and resulted in the explosion.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Since the destroyed capsule had been slated for use in the upcoming in-flight abort test, the explosion and investigation delayed that test and the subsequent crewed orbital test.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The SuperDraco engine test that failed on 20 April 2019 was repeated successfully on 13 November 2019. The full duration static fire test of Crew Dragon's launch escape system took place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1 at 20:08 UTC. The test was successful, showing that the modifications made to the vehicle to prevent a failure like the one that happened 20 April 2019 were successful. The vehicle used for this ground test would also be used for the following in-flight abort test.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: The Crew Dragon in-flight abort test was launched on 19 January 2020 at 15:30 UTC from LC-39A on a suborbital trajectory to conduct a separation and abort scenario in the troposphere at transonic velocities shortly after passing through max Q, where the vehicle experiences maximum aerodynamic pressure. The Dragon 2 used its SuperDraco abort engines to push itself away from the Falcon 9 after an intentional premature engine cutoff. Ten seconds after Dragon 2 was jettisoned, the Falcon 9 exploded due to the then exposed un-aerodynamic front and was destroyed. The spacecraft followed its suborbital trajectory to apogee, at which point the spacecraft's trunk was jettisoned. The smaller Draco engines were then used to orient the vehicle for the descent. All major functions were executed, including separation, engine firings, parachute deployment, and landing. Dragon 2 splashed down at 15:38:54 UTC just off the Florida coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The test objective was to demonstrate the ability to safely move away from the ascending rocket under the most challenging atmospheric conditions of the flight trajectory, imposing the worst structural stress of a real flight on the rocket and spacecraft. The abort test was performed using a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket with a fully fueled second stage with a mass simulator replacing the Merlin engine.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Earlier, this test had been scheduled before the uncrewed orbital test, however, SpaceX and NASA considered it safer to use a flight representative capsule rather than the test article from the pad abort test.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: This test was previously planned to use the capsule C204 from Demo-1, however, C204 was destroyed in an explosion during a static fire testing on 20 April 2019. Capsule C205, originally planned for Demo-2 was used for the In-Flight Abort Test with C206 being planned for use during Demo-2. This was the final flight test of the spacecraft before it began carrying astronauts to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Prior to the flight test, teams completed launch day procedures for the first crewed flight test, from suit-up to launch pad operations. The joint teams conducted full data reviews that needed to be completed prior to NASA astronauts flying on the system during SpaceX's Demo-2 mission.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: On 17 April 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the first crewed Crew Dragon Demo-2 to the International Space Station would launch on 27 May 2020. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley crewed the mission, marking the first crewed launch to the International Space Station from U.S. soil since STS-135 in July 2011. The original launch was postponed to 30 May 2020 due to weather conditions at the launch site. The second launch attempt was successful, with capsule C206, later named "Endeavour" by the crew, launching on 30 May 2020 19:22 UTC. The capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station on 31 May 2020 at 14:27 UTC. On 2 August 2020, Crew Dragon undocked and splashed-down successfully in the Atlantic Ocean.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Launching in the Dragon 2 spacecraft was described by astronaut Bob Behnken as "smooth off the pad" but "we were definitely driving and riding a dragon all the way up ... a little bit less g's [than the Space Shuttle] but more 'alive' is probably the best way I would describe it".


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Regarding descent in the spacecraft, Behnken stated, "Once we descended a little bit into the atmosphere, Dragon really came alive. It started to fire thrusters and keep us pointed in the appropriate direction. The atmosphere starts to make noise—you can hear that rumble outside the vehicle. And as the vehicle tries to control, you feel a little bit of that shimmy in your body. ... We could feel those small rolls and pitches and yaws—all those little motions were things we picked up on inside the vehicle. ... All the separation events, from the trunk separation through the parachute firings, were very much like getting hit in the back of the chair with a baseball bat ... pretty light for the trunk separation but with the parachutes it was a pretty significant jolt".


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Crew Dragon has flown five operational CCP missions and four other missions. Cargo Dragon has flown six missions.


title: SpaceX Dragon 2

text: Space Adventures contracted SpaceX for a five-day, high elliptic orbit space tourism mission with a Crew Dragon in 2022, which planned to send four crew members to an altitude over twice the height of the ISS, and higher than the current altitude record for an orbital crewed spacecraft, set by the Gemini 11 mission in 1966. In October 2021, Space Adventures stated that the contract had expired and would not be executed, but left open the possibility of a partnership with SpaceX in the future. The goals of the Space Adventures flight are aimed for by Polaris Dawn now, to be flown no earlier than March 2023.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Pagani Huayra () is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian sports car manufacturer Pagani, succeeding the company's previous offering, the Zonda. It is named after Wind, like the previous model (Zonda), the word Huayra came from a Quechua which translates to the word for wind. And not related to Huayra Tata. The Huayra was named "The Hypercar of the Year 2012" by "Top Gear" magazine. On 11 February 2015 it was reported that the Pagani Huayra has been sold out. The Huayra was limited to just 100 units as part of Pagani's agreement with engine supplier Mercedes-AMG.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Pagani Huayra was officially debuted online with several pictures in a press release on 25 January 2011. The official world debut was at the headquarters of Pirelli in Milan in February 2011.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra has a top speed of about and it has a 0- acceleration time of 2.8 seconds. Using Pirelli tyres, the Pagani Huayra is capable of 1.66 g of lateral acceleration.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Pagani Huayra uses a seven-speed sequential gearbox and a single disc clutch. The choice not to use a dual-clutch was due to the increase in weight of over , thus negating any advantage of the faster gear changes in a double-clutch transmission. As a result, the transmission weighs .


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The car is equipped with Brembo brake calipers, rotors and pads. The calipers have four pistons in front and four in the rear. The rotors are drilled carbon ceramic, in diameter and thick.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra uses a twin-turbocharged M158 60° V12 engine developed by Mercedes-AMG specially for the Huayra, which has a power output of at 5,800 rpm and of torque at 2,250-4,500 rpm. The engine has been designed at the request of Pagani to reduce turbo lag and improve response, achieved with smaller turbochargers, a different intercooler configuration and re-programmed ECU settings.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Like many high-performance cars, the Huayra uses dry sump lubrication. This has several key benefits including guaranteeing oil flow even when the car is subjected to extreme lateral acceleration, preventing "oil surge" which allows the engine to operate more efficiently while the lack of an oil pan allows mounting the engine lower, lowering the car's center of gravity and improving handling. The fuel consumption of the Huayra is in city and in highway (EPA testing).


title: Pagani Huayra

text: A water / oil heat exchanger reduces engine warm-up times on cold days and helps maintain a stable temperature for refrigerants and lubricants.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: To minimise the use of pipes and fittings (and the overall weight of the vehicle), the expansion tank is mounted directly on the engine. Intercooler fins act as an expansion tank circuit at low temperatures.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The titanium exhaust system was designed and built by MHG-Fahrzeugtechnik. Hydroformed joints were developed to reduce back pressure and ensure a free flow exhaust. Titanium reduces the weight of the exhaust system while the Inconel silencers improve reliability in the most exposed parts of the exhaust at high temperatures. The entire system weighs less than .


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Pagani Huayra is different from its predecessor in that it incorporates active aerodynamics. It is capable of changing the height of the front from the ground and independently operating four flaps placed at the rear and front of the car. The behavior of the flaps is managed by a dedicated control unit that is fed information from systems such as the ABS and ECU, which pass on information about the car's speed, yaw rate, lateral acceleration, steering angle and throttle position. This is intended to achieve minimal drag coefficient or maximum downforce depending on the situation. The Huayra's designer Horacio Pagani states that it has a variable drag coefficient of between .31 and .37. The system also prevents excess body roll in the corners by raising the "inside" flaps (i.e. the left ones in a left-handed corner and vice versa), increasing the downforce on that side of the car. The rear flaps also act as an airbrake. Under hard braking, both the front suspension and the two rear flaps are raised to counter-act weight transfer to the front wheels and keep the whole car stable, for instance when entering a corner. Air from the radiator is extracted through an arch in the bonnet at an angle that is designed not to affect the streamline around the body. The side air intakes behind the front wheels create a low pressure zone, resulting in downforce.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra BC is a track focused version of the Huayra which was unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. The Huayra BC is named after the late Benny Caiola, a friend of Horacio Pagani, and the first Pagani customer. The Huayra BC has an improved version of the standard Huayra's 6.0 L twin-turbocharged V12 engine having a power output of @5900 rpm


title: Pagani Huayra

text: as well as @ 2500-5600 rpm of torque. The dry weight is reduced by to just , thanks to the use of a new material called 'carbon triax' which Pagani claims is 50% lighter and 20% stronger than regular carbon fibre, giving the car a power-to-weight ratio of per horsepower. The Huayra BC comes with a lighter titanium exhaust system, new aluminum alloy wheels, and a stripped out interior. The tires are Pirelli P-Zero Corsas that feature 12 different rubber compounds, and the suspension and wishbones are made of aeronautical grade aluminum, known as Avional. The Huayra BC also has a new front bumper with a front splitter and winglets, deeper side skirts, and an air diffuser that stretches the entire width of the rear bumper with a large rear wing. The car could be ordered with an optional roof scoop. All of the exterior components in the car are used to optimize downforce and drag. The Huayra BC uses an Xtrac 7-speed sequential manual transmission. Pagani has stuck with a single-clutch gearbox because it weighs 40% less than double-clutch gearboxes.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Pagani planned to make 20 units of the Huayra BC, which were all sold out. In reality, Pagani drastically overproduced the Huayra BC, producing 30 units instead of the promised 20, to the irritation of some owners.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: After 2 years of development, the Huayra Roadster was officially unveiled at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The over-all appearance of the car has changed, with the most obvious being the removable top (hence the Roadster name). This part of the vehicle is also its key element. The design of the rear is also different, with new eyelid-like fixed flaps that continue with the design and eventually end on the rear lights. The rear engine cover also has a new shape to adapt to the roadster form and now has vents for efficient cooling. The wheels are unique and specifically constructed for the car. The car has conventional doors instead of the Gull-wing doors of the coupé as they are impossible to fit on an open top car while maintaining the low weight.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The vehicle utilises the same twin-turbocharged M158 V12 engine as the coupé, but it now has a total power output of at 6,200 rpm and of torque at 2,400 rpm. All of this power is delivered to the rear wheels via a 7-speed automated manual transmission by Xtrac. The car now uses a hydraulic and electronic activation system with carbon synchronizers. Bosch has also contributed in the construction of the car and the car uses their ECU system. The weight is now lighter, for a total of , making it the first roadster lighter than the coupe version. Only 100 will be made, all of which have already been sold. The tyre supplier is Pirelli, with P-Zero tyres. The tyre have a white narrow outline, resembling those of an F1 race car. Pagani has also used a new material for the Roadster called carbon triax, which is a tri-axis fiberglass meshed with carbon-fibre power bands.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Pagani states that the car produces of downforce or 1.8 lateral G-force. However, this figure is unproven, but if true, Pagani will have set a new record.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Introduced in July 2019, the Huayra Roadster BC, often mistakenly called the Huayra BC Roadster, is the track-oriented version of the Roadster. It shares few aerodynamic parts as present on the BC and has a modified version of the 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine rated at and of torque. The 7-speed Xtrac sequential gearbox with single clutch used on the roadster is 35% lighter than a contemporary dual-clutch gearbox. The Huayra Roadster BC sits at which is slightly heavier than the coupe, with a dry weight of . It is lighter than the Huayra Roadster . The monocoque of the Roadster BC is constructed of carbon-titanium HP62 material to keep weight low and make the construction rigid. The Roadster BC is claimed to generate of downforce at due to its large fixed rear wing and aerodynamic elements. In addition to movable active Aero elements, the titanium exhaust incorporates flaps in the catalytic converters to divert exhaust gases over the underfloor elements like a Formula 1 car's blown diffuser. Production of the Huayra Roadster BC will be limited to 40 units only.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Imola is named after the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola Circuit), where it underwent 16,000km of high-speed testing. It is the most powerful street-legal variant of the Huayra, using the same Mercedes-AMG V12 tuned to and . Weight saving measures such as a new carbon fibre blend and lightweight paint application have reduced the Imola's dry weight to . Exterior changes from the standard Huayra include a large seven-section diffuser, a large roof scoop, a shark fin, more pronounced side skirts and a wide fixed rear wing with an integrated stoplight. Six Imola were built: 5 for customers and 1 prototype for Horacio Pagani.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra Tricolore, was built to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Frecce Tricolori, Italy's aerobatic team.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Tricolore uses a twin-turbo 6.0-liter V12 engine sourced from Mercedes-AMG which has been tuned to produce 829 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, which is 38bhp and 37lb ft more than the power and torque produced by a standard Huayra BC engine. The car is only available in roadster form and shares much of the bodywork of the Roadster BC. It is unpainted except for a clear blue lacquer, and red, white, and green stripes from the nose along the top of the car's surface. Inside, the Tricolore is equipped with white and blue leather seats with Italian flag stripes, and the Tricolori logo is embroidered into the headrests. The Pitot tube mounted on the nose of the car, a metal measuring device that's typically uses on planes to measure air speed, is a unique feature of the Tricolore.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The production is limited to three customer units as its predecessor and priced at €5,500,000+taxes ($6.7 Million+taxes) each. In reality, there will be four Huayra Tricolore: 3 customer cars and 1 prototype owned by the company. The first two customer cars have been delivered, as of early 2022. One car went to a customer in Stuttgart, Germany, while another went to a customer in Wisconsin, USA (but delivered through Pagani of Dallas).


title: Pagani Huayra

text: In March 2021, Pagani introduced the Huayra R, a track-only version of the Huayra and the successor of the Pagani Zonda R. The Huayra R uses the "Pagani V12-R", a version of the 6.0 L naturally aspirated Mercedes-Benz V12 engine built from the ground up by HWA AG to produce at 8,250 rpm as well as of torque at 5,500 rpm to 8300 rpm, and a redline at 9,000 rpm. The Huarya R has a 6-speed sequential transmission newly developed for the car, and various weight saving measures have resulted in a lower dry weight of .


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Pagani plans a limited 30-car production run for the Huayra R, similar to the limited 15-car production run of the track-only version of the Pagani Zonda, the Zonda R.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: On June 16, 2022, Pagani introduced the Huayra Codalunga, a 5 units limited version of the Huayra, to pay homage to the lines of racecars from the 1960s, like the Porsche 917 (Horacio's favorite car). Prices started at €7mln+tax (around $7.36mln+tax) with all 5 units being sold before its unveiling. This car was the result of a special project by Pagani Grandi Complicazioni.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The first special edition was the Pagani Huayra Carbon Edition, unveiled in 2012, along with the White Edition. It features a full carbon fibre body, wheels and interior trim, hence the "carbon" part of the name. The interior features red leather upholstery and carbon fibre inserts. The specifications are the same as the standard Huayra.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The White Edition was unveiled in 2012, along with the Carbon Edition. The car features a white and black carbon fibre exterior, a white and black interior, and aluminum wheels.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: This special edition Huayra, called "La Monza Lisa" was built for well known car collector Kris Singh. The car is chassis number 60. It features tricolore racing stripes and side stripes inspired by the Zonda Revolucion, and a bright red interior with white stitching inspired by a Zonda F Roadster. At the customer's request, Pagani also reengineered the firewall behind the occupants to be finished in a mixture of matte and gloss fully exposed carbon fibre for visual effect as well as to pass more engine vibration through to the carbon fibre seats. La Monza Lisa also features a one-off exhaust system and bespoke turbochargers built by Michael Kübler and Mercedes-AMG.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The 730S special edition was unveiled at the AutoGallery of Beverly Hills in February 2015. Most of the car's specifications are heavily inspired from the Zonda Tricolore. The car was specially built for Alejandro Salomon (a.k.a. Salomondrin), a Mexican-American entrepreneur, former film producer and YouTube personality.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The car was later sold to David Lee, an American jewellery salesman and Ferrari collector, due to Salomondrin's complaints after driving it for a year. The car was later renamed "Da Vinci" by Lee after his purchase and was upgraded with the Tempesta package.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: A Pagani Huayra BC, finished in red carbon fibre, was delivered to the United States and is dubbed "Kingtasma" by the owner. The Kingtasma is one of only four Pagani Huayra BC models equipped with a roof scoop, it is also the only Huayra BC fitted with a cup holder from the factory. It also features gold carbon fibre crowns on the underside of both of the rear flaps. The Huayra BC Kingtasma is owned by an American real estate tycoon from the east coast of the United States. The owner, same father-son duo, also own the Pagani Huayra called "The King".


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Collector Kris Singh had commissioned a special BC called "Macchina Volante" (the Flying Machine) which is named after a project Leonardo De Vinci had been working on before he passed. The car features blue carbon fiber inspired by the Zonda Kiryu, unique Zonda mirrors, air chimneys on the rear fender taken from the Zonda R, and a bespoke rear wing. The interior features a tartan fabric, which is inspired by the same seating material used in the Mercedes-Benz W196 race car. Upon delivery of the car, Kris Singh was reportedly upset at some small details not being as he specified. Angry at Pagani, he did not drive the car much and later sold it. It now resides in Columbus, Ohio under the ownership of The Triple F Collection.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra Pearl, unveiled in May 2016, is a special edition of the Huayra. It features the split rear wing inspired by the Zonda C12, and the roof air scoop inspired by the Zonda Cinque. Like the Carbon Edition and Da Vinci, the car has an exposed carbon fibre body finished in a dark blue colour. It was involved in an accident in Paris in July 2016 but was rebuilt again by the factory in 2017 with an upgraded engine. It shares many components with the Huayra BC and the Zonda R including the suspension, gearbox, top mounted air intake and the motorsport derived carbo-titanium monocoque which reduces weight by less than before. The rebuild took 24 months to complete. The car crashed again in December 2021 in Saudi Arabia.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra Dinastia was a special edition of three Huayra coupés revealed to the public in 2016. Horacio Pagani's inspiration for this car came from the Nine-Dragon Wall in China. Three cars were initially planned to be built and sold, but after October 2016, based on the request of customers and after the research proving that the purple and red are in the same colour family (shades of magenta), the Red has been replaced with the Purple. Each unit also has a certain livery. The design of the car reflects Horacio's visit with each unit's livery design resembling one of the dragons on the wall, and it also has an aerodynamic fin on the rear, mostly likely to resemble a dragon's tail.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Mechanically, the Dinastia is identical to the normal Pagani Huayra however, Pagani has installed a lighter titanium exhaust system, new 21-inch forged aluminium alloy wheels, a new front splitter and winglets, deeper side skirts, and an additional rear fin to help the air stream to minimize drag.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra Hermès Edition, unveiled in 2016, is a special edition Huayra owned by Iranian-American millionaire Manny Khoshbin. It features the Tempesta package as well as coffee brown colored exposed carbon fiber bodywork and a matching custom caramel leather interior designed by Hermès, and handmade and stitched at their factory in Paris. Other changes include a custom Hermès shift knob, intake grates with laser cut "H" pattern reminiscent of their logo, and a set of matching Huayra luggage bags.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: In December 2017, Pagani introduced the Huayra Lampo in partnership with Lapo Elkann of Garage Italia Customs. The car is inspired by the Fiat Turbina concept introduced in 1954. This particular Huayra gets the ‘Tempesta’ pack too: larger front openings, plus new aero elements on the front splitter and sills. The car is chassis number 68.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The Huayra Jeden (Polish for "one") is inspired by the Pagani Zonda Cinque. The car was delivered to a US customer in Connecticut.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: The L'Ultimo is the final Huayra coupé built for a US based customer. The car's chassis number is #141. It features the same mechanical components as a normal Huayra coupé but features many bespoke parts unique to the car, such as the Pacchetto Tempesta aerodynamics package, a roof scoop inspired by the Zonda R and a bespoke rear wing. The paint work is also unique and takes inspiration from the Mercedes-AMG Formula One team’s cars. The interior is also in contrast with the exterior colour and features white leather seats with turquoise floor mats and centre console.


title: Pagani Huayra

text: Based off a Huayra BC Coupé with an upgraded engine and roof scoop inspired by the Zonda Cinque, 760s and one-offs, delivered to a customer in New York, USA.


title: Patna

text: ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. Covering and over 2.5 million people, its urban agglomeration is the 18th largest in India. Patna serves as the seat of Patna High Court. The Buddhist, Hindu and Jain pilgrimage centres of Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya and Pawapuri are nearby and Patna City is a sacred city for Sikhs as the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh was born here. The modern city of Patna is mainly on the southern bank of the river Ganges. The city also straddles the rivers Sone, Gandak and Punpun. The city is approximately in length and wide.


title: Patna

text: One of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world, Patna was founded in 490 BCE by the king of Magadha. Ancient Patna, known as Pataliputra, was the capital of the Magadh Empire through Haryanka, Nanda, Mauryan, Shunga, Gupta and Pala dynasties. Pataliputra was a seat of learning and fine arts. It was home to many astronomers and scholars including Aryabhata, Vātsyāyana and Chanakya. During the Maurya period (around 300 BCE) its population was about 400,000. Patna served as the seat of power, and political and cultural centre of the Indian subcontinent during the Maurya and Gupta empires. With the fall of the Gupta Empire, Patna lost its glory. It was revived again in the 17th century by the British as a centre of international trade. Following the partition of Bengal presidency in 1912, Patna became the capital of Bihar and Orissa Province.


title: Patna

text: Until the 19th century it was a major trading and commercial hub in India. After independence there were a few downturns but its economy was still stable. After the separation of Jharkhand from Bihar, it lost its glory. Now trials are made to develop the city. As per the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (Government of Bihar), Nominal GDP of Patna District was estimated at INR 63,176.55 crores in 2011-12. As of 2011-12, Patna already recorded per capita gross domestic product of 1,08,657, way ahead of many other Indian cities and state capitals. Using figures for assumed average annual growth, Patna is the 21st fastest growing city in the world and 5th fastest growing city in India according to a study by the City Mayors Foundation. Patna registered an average annual growth of 3.72% during 2006–2010. As of 2011-12, GDP per capita of Patna is ₹1,08,657 and its GDP growth rate is 7.29 per cent. In June 2009, the World Bank ranked Patna second in India (after Delhi) for ease of starting a business.


title: Patna

text: The name of this city has changed with time. One of the oldest cities of India, there are several theories regarding the origin of the modern name Patna (Bengali: পাটনা; Devanagari: पटना; Kaithi: 𑂣𑂗𑂢𑂰; Gurmukhi: ਪਟਨਾ; Urdu: پٹنہ). It is etymologically derived from "Patan" (Devanagari: पटन), the name of the Hindu goddess, Patan Devi. Patan Devi Mandir is still in old Patna near Gulzarbagh mandi along with another, Patan Devi Mandir, near Takht Sri Patna Sahib. Many believe Patna derived its name from Patli, a tree variety that was found in abundance in the historic city. It is also seen on the state tourism's logo. The place is mentioned in Chinese traveller Fa Hien's records as Pa-lin-fou. The city has been known by various names through more than 2,000 years of existence – Pataligrama, Pataliputra, Kusumapura, Kusumdhwaja Pushpapuram, Padmavathi, Azimabad and the present-day Patna. Legend ascribes the origin of Patna to the mythological King Putraka who created Patna by magic for his queen Patali, literally "trumpet flower", which gives it its ancient name Pataligrama. It is said that in honour of the queen's first-born, the city was named Pataliputra. "Gram" is Sanskrit for village and "Putra" means son. Legend also says that the Emerald Buddha was created in Patna (then Pataliputra) by Nagasena in 43 BCE.


title: Patna

text: Traditional Buddhist literature attributes foundation of Patna 490 BCE as Ajatashatru, the king of Magadha, wanted to shift his capital from the hilly Rajagrha (today Rajgir) to a strategically chosen place to better combat the Licchavis of Vaishali. He chose the site on the bank of the Ganges and fortified the area. Gautama Buddha travelled through this place in the last year of his life. He prophesied a great future for this place even as he predicted its ruin due to flood, fire and feud. According to Dieter Schlingloff, the Buddhist accounts may have presented the grandeur of Patna as a prophecy and that its wooden fortifications unlike other early historic Indian cities indicate that it might be much older than thought but only archaeological excavation and C14 dates of its wooden palisades which is presently lacking may establish this.


title: Patna

text: Megasthenes, the Indo-Greek historian and ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, gave one of the earliest accounts of the city. He wrote that the city was on the confluence of the rivers "Ganga" and "Arennovoas" (Sonabhadra – Hiranyawah) and was long and wide. Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to India, described the city as the greatest city on earth during its heyday. The Shungas ultimately retained control of Pataliputra and ruled for almost 100 years. The Shungas were followed by the Kanvas and eventually by the Guptas. A number of Chinese travellers came to India in pursuit of knowledge and recorded their observations about Pataliputra in their travelogues. One such famous account was recorded by a Chinese Buddhist traveller Fa Hien, who visited India between 399 and 414 CE, and stayed here for many months translating Buddhist texts. When Chinese Buddhist Monk Faxian visited the city in 400 A.D, he found the people to be rich and prosperous; they practised virtue and justice. He found that the nobles and householders of the city had constructed several hospitals in which the poor of all countries, the destitute, the crippled and the diseased can get treatment. They could receive every kind of help gratuitously. Physicians would inspect the diseases, and order them food, drink, and medicines.


title: Patna

text: In the years that followed, many dynasties ruled the Indian subcontinent from the city, including the Gupta dynasty and the Pala kings. With the disintegration of the Gupta empire, Patna passed through uncertain times. Bakhtiar Khilji captured Bihar in the 12th century and destroyed everything, and Patna lost its prestige as the political and cultural centre of India. Guru Gobind Singh (22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, was born as Gobind Rai in Patna to Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, and his wife Mata Gujri. His birthplace, Patna Sahib is one of the most sacred sites of pilgrimage for Sikhs.


title: Patna

text: The Mughal Empire was a period of unremarkable provincial administration from Delhi. The most remarkable period during the Middle Ages was under the Afghan emperor Sher Shah Suri, who revived Patna in the middle of the 16th century. He built a fort and founded a town on the banks of the Ganges. Sher Shah's fort in Patna does not survive, although the Sher Shah Suri mosque, built in Afghan architectural style, does. Mughal emperor Akbar reached Patna in 1574 to crush the rebellious Afghan Chief Daud Khan. One of the navratnas from Akbar's court, his official historian and author of "Ain-i-Akbari" Abul Fazl refers to Patna as a flourishing centre for paper, stone and glass industries. He also refers to the high quality of numerous strains of rice grown in Patna, famous as Patna rice in Europe. By 1620, the city of Patna was being described as the "chiefest mart towne of all Bengala" (i.e. largest town in Bengal) in northern India, "the largest town in Bengal and the most famous for trade". This was before the founding of the city of Calcutta. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb acceded to the request of his favourite grandson, Prince Muhammad Azim, to rename Patna as Azimabad, in 1704 while Azim was in Patna as the subedar. Patna or Azimabad did see some violent activities, according to Phillip Mason, writing in the book "The Men Who Ruled India". "Aurangzeb had restored the poll-tax (Jazia) on unbelievers and this had to be compounded for. In Patna, Peacock the Chief of the factory was not sufficiently obliging and was seized, forced to walk through the town bare-headed and bare-footed and subjected to many other indignities before he paid up and was released." Little changed during this period other than the name. With the decline of the Mughal empire, Patna moved into the hands of the Nawabs of Bengal, who levied a heavy tax on the populace but allowed it to flourish as a commercial centre. The mansions of the Maharaja of Tekari Raj dominated the Patna riverfront in 1811–12. In 1750, the future Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah revolted against his grandfather, Alivardi Khan, and seized Patna, but quickly surrendered and was forgiven.


title: Patna

text: As trade grew, settlements of the Portuguese empire expanded to the Bengal Gulf. Since at least 1515 the Portuguese were at Bengal as traders, and later in 1521 an embassy was sent to Gaur to be able to create factories in the region. The Bengal Sultan after 1534 allowed the Portuguese to create several settlements as Chitagoong e Satgaon. In 1535 the Portuguese were allied with the Bengal sultan and held the Teliagarhi pass 280 km from Patna helping to avoid the invasion by the Mughals. By then several of the products came from Patna and the Portuguese send in traders, establishing a factory there since 1580 at least. The products were shipped out down the river until other Portuguese ports as Chittagoon e Satgaoon, and from there to the rest of the empire.


title: Patna

text: During the 17th century, Patna became a centre of international trade. In 1620, the English East India Company established a factory in Patna for trading in calico and silk. Soon it became a trading centre for saltpetre. Francois Bernier, in "Travels in the Mogul Empire" (1656–1668), says ". It was carried down the Ganges with great facility, and the Dutch and English sent large cargoes to many parts of the Indies, and to Europe". This trade encouraged other Europeans, principally the French, Danes, Dutch and Portuguese, to compete in the lucrative business. Peter Mundy, writing in 1632, described Patna as "the greatest mart of the eastern region". After the decisive Battle of Buxar of 1764, as per the treaty of Allahabad East India Company was given the right to collect tax of this former Mughal province by the Mughal emperor. Patna was annexed by the company in 1793 to its territory when Nizamat (Mughal suzerainty) was abolished and the British East India Company took control of the province of Bengal-Bihar. Patna however continued as a trading centre. In 1912, when the Bengal Presidency was partitioned, Patna became the capital of the British province of Bihar and Orissa, although in 1936 Orissa became a separate entity with its own capital. Till date, a major population of Bengalis live in Patna particularly.


title: Patna

text: People from Patna were greatly involved in the Indian independence movement. Most notable movements were the Champaran movement against the Indigo plantation and the 1942 Quit India Movement. National leaders who came from the city include Swami Sahajanand Saraswati; the first President of the Constituent Assembly of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad; "Bihar Vibhuti" (Anugrah Narayan Sinha); Basawon Singh (Sinha); and "Loknayak" (Jayaprakash Narayan).


title: Patna

text: Patna remained the capital of Bihar after India gained independence in 1947, even as Bihar was partitioned again in 2000 when Jharkhand became a separate state of the Indian union. On 27 October 2013, six people were killed and 85 others were injured in a series of co-ordinated bombings at an election rally for BJP candidate Narendra Modi. On 3 October 2014, 33 people were killed and 26 injured in a stampede at Gandhi Maidan during Vijaya Dashmi celebrations.


title: Patna

text: Patna is on the southern bank of the river Ganges. The total area of Patna is . Of this, the municipal area constitutes . The suburban area covers . It has an average elevation of . A characteristic feature of the geography of Patna is its confluence of major rivers.


title: Patna

text: During the British Raj, Patna was part of the Bengal Presidency. After Nalanda district was carved out of Patna district in 1976, Patna was purged of all hilly regions. It is an alluvial, flat expanse of land. The land in the district is too fertile and is almost entirely cultivated with no forest cover. Alluvial soil found here is ideal for cultivation of rice, sugarcane and other foodgrains. The area under cultivation is studded with mango orchards and bamboo groves. In the fields along the banks of river Ganges, weeds such as ammannia, citriculari, hygrophile and sesbania grow. But palmyra, date palm and mango orchards are found near habitations. Dry stretches of shrubbery are sometimes seen in the villages far from the rivers. Trees commonly found are bel, siris, jack fruit and the red cotton tree. Patna is unique in having four large rivers in its vicinity. It is the largest riverine city in the world. The topography of Patna city is saucer shaped as per Patna City Development Plan prepared in 2006. The bridge over the river Ganges named Mahatma Gandhi Setu is 5575m long and is the longest river bridge in the India.


title: Patna

text: Patna comes under India's seismic zone-IV, indicating its vulnerability to major earthquakes, but earthquakes have not been common in recent history. Patna also falls in the risk zone for floods and cyclones.


title: Patna

text: Patna has a humid subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification: (Cwa) with extremely hot summers from late March to June, the monsoon season from late June to late September and chilly winter nights and foggy or sunny days from November to February. Highest temperature ever recorded was in the year 1966, the lowest ever was on 9 January 2013, and highest rainfall was in the year 1997.


title: Patna

text: Pollution is a major concern in Patna. According to the CAG report, tabled in the Bihar Legislative Assembly in April 2015, respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) level (PM-10) in Patna was 355, three-and-a-half times higher than the prescribed limit of 100 micro-gram per cubic metre, primarily due to high vehicular and industrial emissions and construction activities in the city. In May 2014, a World Health Organization survey declared Patna the second most air polluted city in India, only after Delhi, with the survey calculating the airborne particulate matter in the state capital's ambient air (PM-2.5) to be 149 micro-grams, six times more than the safe limit, which is 25 micro-grams. Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer, asthma, dysentery and diarrhoea. The dense smog in Patna during winter season results in major air and rail traffic disruptions every year.


title: Patna

text: Patna has long been a major agricultural hub and centre of trade. Its most active exports are grain, sugarcane, sesame, and medium-grained Patna rice. There are several sugar mills in and around Patna. It is an important business and luxury brand centre of eastern India. The economy of Patna has seen sustained economic growth since 2005. The economy has been spurred by growth in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, the service sector, along with Green revolution businesses. In 2009, the World Bank stated Patna as the second best city in India to start up a business. As of 2011-12, GDP per capita of Patna is 1,08,657 and its GDP growth rate is 7.29 per cent. Patna is the 21st fastest growing city in the world and the fifth fastest-growing city in India, and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 3.72%. The major business districts of the city are Bander Bagicha, Exhibition Road, Gandhi Maidan Marg, Frazer Road, Indrapuri and Maurya Lok.


title: Patna

text: Earlier Patna was an international trading hub and a major textile center. Going back to the 19th century when silk factory was set up here, so many foreign traders came to visit it and have some income. After the independence the economy was still stable. After the independence many vegetables and vegetable oils were manufactured in the city. Until 1980s up and down in economy was there. But till the 1990s, when liberalisation came in India, Patna didn't receive any global funds and foreign investments. The trading and economic environment were fully destroyed. There were many fertiliser plants and sugar mills. But to week ecosystem, company saw loses and it was also get closed.


title: Patna

text: A large number of manufacturing companies Hero Cycles, Britannia Industries, PepsiCo, Sonalika Tractors and UltraTech Cement have come with there manufacturing plants in Patna metropolitan area. World's second largest leather cluster is in Fatuha at Patna. Patna is also emerging as an IT based economy. Tata Consultancy Services-Patna got operational in 2019 at its new office. Many business park are introduced to the city.


title: Patna

text: With an estimated population of 1.68 million in 2011, Patna is the 19th most populous city in India and with over 2 million people, its urban agglomeration is the 18th largest in India. Residents of Patna are referred to by the demonym Patnaite.


title: Patna

text: According to 2011 census data, Patna city had a population of 1,683,200 (before expansion of the city limits) within the corporation limits, with 894,158 men and 789,042 women. This was an increase of 22.2 per cent compared to the 2001 figures. 11.32 per cent of the population was under six years of age, with 102,208 boys while 88,288 are girls. The overall literacy rate is 83.37%, with the male literacy rate being 87.35% and the female literacy rate being 79.89%. The sex ratio of Patna is 885 females per 1,000 males. Child sex ratio of girls is 877 per 1000 boys. The urban agglomeration had a population of 2,046,652 of which 1,087,864 are males and 958,788 are females with 82.73% literacy. Patna is the second largest city in eastern India.


title: Patna

text: According to the 2011 census of India, Patna's major religion is Hinduism with 86.39% followers. Islam is the second most popular religion in Patna with approximately 12.27% following it. Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism, with smaller followings, are also practised in Patna. During the last census report, around 0.01% stated other religions and approximately 0.49% stated no particular religion.


title: Patna

text: Roughly 0.25% of Patna's population lives in slums which makes Patna, the city with the lowest percentage of people living in slum in India. Like other fast-growing cities in the developing world, Patna suffers from major urbanisation problems including unemployment, poor public health and poor civic and educational standards for a large section of the population. In 2015, the National Sample Survey Organisation revealed that, for females, Patna had highest unemployment rate 34.6% and for males it was the second highest with a rate of 8% in 2011–12.


title: Patna

text: Hindi is the official language of the state of Bihar and Urdu is the additional official language, but many other languages are spoken too. The native Language is Magadhi or Magahi, named after Magadha, the ancient name of South Bihar is most widely spoken. Other spoken dialects and languages include Bhojpuri, Maithili, Bengali and Oriya.


title: Patna

text: The Patna sub-division (Tehsil) is one of the 6 Tehsils of the Patna district. It is headed by an IAS or state Civil service officer of the rank of Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM). The SDM of Patna Tehsil reports to the District Magistrate (DM) of Patna District.


title: Patna

text: The Patna Tehsil is divided into 3 Blocks, each headed by a Block Development Officer (BDO). List of Blocks is as follows:


title: Patna

text: The civic administration of Patna is run by several government agencies and has overlapping structural divisions. At least five administrative definitions of the city are available; listed in ascending order of area, those are: Patna division, Patna district (also the Patna Police area), the Patna Metropolitan Region (also known as Patna Planning area), "Greater Patna" or PRDA area, which adds to the PMC area a few areas just adjacent to it and Patna Municipal Corporation area.


title: Patna

text: The Patna Municipal Corporation, or PMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 75 wards, which accommodates a population of 1.7 million as per 2011 Census. The municipal corporation consists of democratically elected members, each ward elects a Councillor to the PMC. The PMC is in charge of the civic and infrastructure needs of the metropolis.


title: Patna

text: As Patna's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor, a deputy mayor, and other elected members of the PMC. The Mayor is usually chosen through indirect election by the councillors from among themselves. The functions of the PMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation.


title: Patna

text: The Municipal Commissioner is the chief Executive Officer and head of the executive arm of the Municipal Corporation. All executive powers are vested in the Municipal Commissioner who is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer appointed by the state government. Although the Municipal Corporation is the legislative body that lays down policies for the governance of the city, it is the Commissioner who is responsible for the execution of the policies. The Commissioner is appointed for a fixed term as defined by state statute. The powers of the Commissioner are those provided by statute and those delegated by the Corporation or the Standing Committee. As of June 2017, the BJP won PMC Mayor seat; the mayor is Sita Sahu, while the deputy mayor is Vinay Kumar Pappu. The Patna Municipal Corporation was ranked 4th out of 21 Cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 3.6 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3. The revenue district of Patna come under the jurisdiction of a District Collector (District Magistrate). The Collectors are in charge of the general administration, property records and revenue collection for the Central Government, and oversee the national elections held in the city. The Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (BUIDCO) and the Patna Metropolitan Area Authority, are responsible for the statutory planning and development of Patna Metropolitan Region. Patna Metropolitan Area Authority was established in 2016. It is the superseding agency for the former Patna Regional Development Authority (PRDA), which was dissolved in 2006. In addition to city government, numerous commissions and state authorities—including the Ministry of Tourism, the Bihar Health Department, the Bihar Water Resources Department, National Ganga River Basin Authority, Bihar State Pollution Control Board and the Bihar Public Service Commission—play a role in the life of Patnaites. As the capital of Bihar, Patna plays a major role not only in state politics but in central politics as well.


title: Patna

text: In October 2016, Bihar cabinet approved the Patna master plan 2031 which envisages development of a new airport at Bihta. As of August 2015, the area of Patna city (along with its urban agglomeration) is . Patna master 2031 is the second master plan of city which has been passed ever, after the last plan was approved for 1961-1981. Patna master plan covers six urban local bodies - Patna Municipal Corporation, Danapur Nagar Parishad, Phulwarisharif Nagar Parishad, Khagaul Nagar Parishad, Maner Nagar Panchayat and Fatuha Nagar Parishad. The new master plan proposed to increase the area of Patna city to to transform it as a metropolitan city. 5 satellite towns have also been proposed in the master plan at Bihta, Naubatpur, Punpun, Fatuha and Khusrupur.


title: Patna

text: Patna has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Government of India's flagship Smart Cities Mission. With the grade of a Smart City, Patna will have highly up-to-date and radical provisions like uninterrupted electric supply, first-rate traffic and transport system, superior health care and many other prime utilities. Under this scheme, the city will use digital technology that will act as the integral mechanism of the aforesaid facilities and thereby further elevate the lifestyle of the citizens. A special purpose vehicle company named the Patna Smart City Limited has been formed to implement the smart city projects. On 22 November 2017, Eptisa Servicios de Ingenieria SL of Spain was chosen as the project management consultant.


title: Patna

text: As the seat of the Government of Bihar, The city has several federal facilities, including the Raj Bhavan: Governor's house, the Bihar Legislative Assembly; the state secretariat, which is housed in the Patna Secretariat; and the Patna High Court. The Patna High Court is one of the oldest High Court in India. The Patna High Court has jurisdiction over the state of Bihar. Patna also has lower courts; the Small Causes Court for civil matters, and the Sessions Court for criminal cases. The Patna Police, commanded by Senior Superintendent of Police, is overseen by the Bihar Government's Home Department. The Patna district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, and 14 representatives to the state legislative assembly.


title: Patna

text: Groundwater fulfills the basic needs of the people, administered by Patna Jal Parishad under Patna Municipal Corporation. The public water supply system comprises 98 tube wells that pump water directly to the distribution mains. Around 23 overhead reservoirs of which only the one's at Agam Kuan, Gulzarbagh Press, Guru Gobind Singh Hospital and High Court serves the city. The sewerage system in Patna was set up in 1936. At present, there are four sewage treatment plants at Saidpur, Beur, Pahari and Karmali Chak. In 2019, the central government has started the process "Nirmal Ganga", which is to build new sewerage infrastructure at Patna's Karmalichak as well as in Barh, Naugachia and Sultanganj. The new infrastructure will be capable of preventing the flow of 67 million litre of sewage into Ganga.


title: Patna

text: As of 2011, the city's electricity consumption is about 601 kWh per capita, even though the actual demand is much higher. Electricity supply to the city is regulated and distributed by the South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited managed by Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (the holding company and a successor company of erstwhile Bihar State Electricity Board). The city forms the Patna Electricity Supply Unit (PESU) Circle, which is further divided into two wings namely Patna East (consists Kankarbagh, Patna City, Gulzarbagh, Bankipore, Rajendra Nagar Divisions)


title: Patna

text: Direct–to–home (DTH) is available via DD Free Dish, Airtel digital TV, Dish TV, Tata Sky, Videocon d2h, Sun Direct and Reliance Digital TV. Cable companies include Darsh Digital Network Pvt. Ltd., SITI Maurya Cablenet Pvt. Ltd etc. The Conditional Access System for cable television was implemented in March 2013.


title: Patna

text: Patna comes under the Patna Telecom District of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India's state-owned telecom and internet services provider. Both Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile services are available. Apart from telecom, BSNL also provides broadband internet service. Among private enterprises, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Reliance GSM/CDMA, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata Teleservices (Tata DoCoMo, Virgin Mobile and Tata Indicom), Telenor (Formerly Uninor & Now Acquired by Bharti Airtel), Vodafone and Videocon Telecom are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city.


title: Patna

text: Patna was the second Indian city, after Bangalore, which offered free WiFi connectivity to its citizens in February 2014. By surpassing the previous record-holder, Beijing in China, Patna's WiFi zone is the world's longest free WiFi zone, which covers a 20-km stretch from NIT Patna on Ashok Rajpath to Danapur.


title: Patna

text: Patna is about 100 km south of national East – West Highway corridor. The NH 30, NH 31 and NH 2 passes through the city. The Ashok Rajpath, Patna-Danapur Road, Bailey Road, Harding Road and Kankarbagh old bypass Road are the major corridors. Patna was one of the first places in India to use horse-drawn trams for public transport. Public transportation is provided for by buses, auto rickshaws and local trains. Auto rickshaws are said to be the lifeline of the city. BSRTC has started City bus service on all major routes of Patna. App based cab service is available within city. Patna is about 70.02KM away from Chhapra


title: Patna

text: Patna Airport known as Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport is classified as a restricted international airport. The arrival of several low-cost carriers and a number of new destinations have caused a growth in air traffic in recent years, as has an improvement in the situation with regard to law and order. For the period April to December 2009 the airport ranked first in a survey of 46 airports in the country in terms of percentage growth of domestic passengers as well as domestic aircraft movement. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has proposed to develop a civil enclave at Bihta Air Force Station to serve as the new airport for Patna. The military airfield lies southwest of Patna, in Bihta.


title: Patna

text: Patna is served by several railway stations within. The Patna Junction railway station is the main railway station of the city, and one of the busiest railway stations in India. Patna lies in between New Delhi and Kolkata on Howrah–Delhi main line, which is one of the busiest rail routes in India. Patna Junction is directly connected to most of the major cities in India. The city has four additional major railway stations: (adjacent to Kankarbagh), (near Bailey road), (near western outskirts) and (in Patna City area). Danapur is the divisional headquarters of East Central Railway zone's Danapur railway division. Patna is well connected with neighbouring Gaya, Jehanabad, Bihar Sharif, Rajgir, Islampur through daily passenger and express train services. And also connected with Jamalpur Junction and Munger. India's longest road-cum-rail bridge, Digha–Sonpur bridge has been constructed across river Ganges, connecting Digha, Patna to Pahleja Ghat in Sonpur. The bridge was completed in 2015, It is long and therefore the second longest rail-cum-road bridge in India, after Bogibeel Bridge in Assam.


title: Patna

text: The city is served by several major road highways and state highways, including National Highways 19, 30, 31, and 83. Pataliputra Bus Terminal is an upcoming ISBT. Asia's longest river bridge, the Mahatma Gandhi Setu (built 1982), is in Patna and connects the city to Hajipur across the Ganga. In recent times, the bridge has been witnessing major traffic chaos and accidents due to exceeding number of vehicles passing over it and regularly overloading the structure. A new six lane road bridge across the Ganges parallel to Mahatma Gandhi Setu is proposed which would connect Kacchi Dargah in Patna City to Bidupur in Vaishali district, which will be the longest bridge in India after completion.


title: Patna

text: Patna is well connected with roads to various major cities of Bihar like Hajipur, Munger, Jamalpur, Bhagalpur, Gaya, and Purnia.


title: Patna

text: Patna is East from Delhi, North East from Mumbai, North from Hyderabad and North West from Kolkata. Luxury bus service between Patna and several neighbouring cities is provided by the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation and the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation. Auto rickshaws are a popular mode of transportation. Prepaid auto services operated by an all-women crew was started in 2013 in Patna, which is the first of its kind in India. Radio Taxi services are also available within city limit as well as outskirts. There are private options such as Ola Cabs.


title: Patna

text: Patna Metro is an under-construction rapid transit system for the city. It would be owned and operated by state run Patna Metro Rail Corporation. It will be constructed on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, estimated to cost . It will have 5 lines with a total planned length of km, which will be built in 3 phases. Patna Monorail Project covering the municipal area is also underway. Recently the central government approved Patna metro rail project comprising two corridors (Danapur - Khemnichak and Patna Junction - Pataliputra Bus Terminal). According to government, the project will be completed until 2025 with an estimated cost of Rs. 133657.7 million.


title: Patna

text: The Ganges – navigable throughout the year – was the principal river highway across the vast Indo-Gangetic Plain. Vessels capable of accommodating five hundred merchants were known to ply this river in the ancient period; it served as a major trade route, as goods were transported from Pataliputra to the Bay of Bengal and further, to ports in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. The role of the Ganges as a channel for trade was enhanced by its natural links – it embraces all the major rivers and streams in both north and south Bihar. In recent times, Inland Waterways Authority of India has declared the stretch of river Ganges between Allahabad and Haldia National Inland Waterway and has taken steps to restore and maintain its navigability. The National Waterway-1, the longest Waterway in India, stretches 1620 km in the River Ganga from Allahabad to Haldia via Varanasi, Munger, Bhagalpur passes through Patna. This National Waterways has fixed terminal at Patna.