Mars Attack: Moon is not
the final frontier

India should not be left behind in international planetary explorations towards Mars, says ISRO chief

BY A CORRESPONDENT
19th January 2006
Not too long ago, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s new chief G Madhavan Nair had said that Chandrayaan-1, the proposed unmanned scientific mission to moon in 2008, represented a big step for India, in moving from explorations of 36,000 km to 3, 60, 000 km above the equator. Now he is looking at Mars.

According to Nair, "For the mankind, the next interesting thing (after Moon) is Mars. Already, there are indications that more inhabitable...And so on." He added, "To reach there and make an investigation is a big challenge. After the moon, mars could be logical step."

Welcoming any move towards global partnership in this respect, Nair was quick to point out that India should not be left behind in international planetary explorations towards Mars. He said that many countries were looking forward to reaching Mars between the 2010-2015 time frame, and emphasised that "My personal opinion is we should not be Left behind in the race."

Nair, who is also Secretary in the Department of Space, indicated that both the US and Europe have suggested a global partnership for exploring Mars, and said, "If planetary explorations become an international theme, it benefits all. We (India) will welcome such a move (Global partnership) from any quarter."

Earlier, India had proposed a Rs 380 crore project, sending an unmanned satellite to the Moon, weighing 525 kg to be launched on board India's polar satellite launch vehicle. The satellite would have a life span of 2 years and polar orbit the moon at a distance of 100 km.

Mars is considered to be the planet that resembles Earth the most, and scientists from NASA have consistently provided evidence of possible life on Mars either in the past, or now.