Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Indian spaceship to visit Mars!!!) that was published in Newsband

Indian spaceship to visit Mars!!!

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced that India would send a mission to the Red Planet. Now this will mark a huge step in the area of science and technology. The Cabinet had approved the Mars Orbiter Mission. Under this Mission, our spaceship will go near Mars and collect important scientific information.

India will be the sixth country to launch a mission to the Red Planet after the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China. If the mission is successful, India will be the first Asian country to do so as probes sent by China and Japan had to be abandoned en route.

As per the proposal drawn up by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Rs. 450 crore Mars Orbiter Mission is expected to be launched in November next year with a 25 kg scientific payload. The mission, to study the Martian atmosphere, will be launched by an extended version of ISRO’s warhorse rocket — the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the spaceport in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft is expected to take nearly 300 days to reach the Martian orbit.

The spacecraft has a tentative scientific objective for studying the climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet.

Every Indian must congratulate scientists and technologists who have enhanced the prestige of the country by successfully testing the Agni V Missile and launching the RISAT-I Satellite in space.

NASA is also said to be working on a Mars mission. India is all set to give the go-ahead for an ambitious mission to Mars, expected in November next year. A lot of studies have been done on the possible mission to Mars. A significant amount of work on the planned Mars mission has been completed and scientific payloads have been short-listed. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalized.

The ISRO had been aiming at launching the mission either in 2016 and 2018. But, it seems the launch could happen earlier, in November next year itself.

Will this mission prove to be successful? Let’s wait and see!