Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'India should join hands with NASA' that was published in Newsband

India should join hands with NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should be commended for its another fantastic feat. The car-sized remote vehicle with an array of sophisticated instruments which it had sent to Mars has completed one year on the red planet.  

The vehicle has sent many useful information which throws more light on that planet. In all, it has so far transmitted more than 190 gigabits of data and about 37,000 full images.

This vehicle was sent to know whether Mars ever had a habitable environment. The presence of water had to be established to prove habitability. Its discovery of presence of amount of water much more than expected is interesting. The vehicle has sent the information that Mars didn’t just have water but it had drinkable water once upon a time.

The rounded nature of the pebbles revealed many facets of the river, including the depth and speed of water flow and the length of the water course.

This vehicle, during its long journey, has also informed about the existence of the radiation dose in Mars and this would mean that manned missions to Mars may not be possible in the immediate future. There will be need of a better spacecraft and protection gear for astronauts when they are on Mars for a year and outside the spacecraft while conducting experiments for even very brief periods.

This mission by NASA has undoubtedly proved to be very useful. The fact that it has completed one year can make one imagine as to how much vast information about Mars it must have sent back to the Earth. It has sent valuable insights about life conditions in Mars and it encourages man to continue with his extra-terrestrial search project. A break through in this regard will mean another big leap of mankind by NASA

Many have expressed happiness about the finding that there is water in the Mars. But how much water is there? Earth is filled with three fourths of its area with water; but even this is insufficient for its population. Some are disappointed to read about the quantum of radiation that exists in Mars. If even a single visit may prove lethal, how can human life be there?

Curiosity has been one of the most successful and important project executed by NASA. NASA has been able to pull of projects like these because of the availability of the ample amount of funds and talented workforce.

India is also all set to send her vehicle to Mars. That’s a good news. It’s great to know that India has created the expertise and infrastructure to implement this ambitious project. It would be wise on part of India if she partnered with NASA in the space project and learn from them as much before attempting any space project.  

Let us wait and see as to when NASA will be in a position to send the first manned mission to the Red Planet.