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KOLKATA: City-born geologist Amitabha Ghosh, who chairs the science operations working group at Nasa Mars Exploration Rover Mission, has urged the Indian space research agency to be cautiously optimistic about its ambitious Mars programme later this year and not be disheartened if it does not work to perfection.
"Going from Moon to Mars is a national progression for India's space programme , a logical step after the successful Moon mission Chandrayaaan-1 . On this Mars mission, scientists should not be outcome-driven . View it as an exciting journey, another step to push back the frontiers of space. At Nasa, we have experienced many reversals but the Mars programme did not stop. India , too, must keep in mind that it (the mission) might not be perfect," said Ghosh, who had selected the GALE Crater in which the Mars rover a Tata Nano size robotic vehicle to probe and analyze the topography of the red plant, its chemical composition and the atmosphere landed last August.
Currently a member of the Mars Odyssey Mission and the Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Ghosh's involvement with the Nasa Mars programme dates back to the Pathfinder mission in 1996 and has seen both failures and spectacular successes . Last year, Russian Mars mission Phobos-Grunt and China's maiden Mars mission Yinghuo-1 encountered failures.
"Whatever may be the eventuality of India's maiden Mars mission, it is necessary for the country to continue the pursuit as it can actually transform the country's technical environment ," he said, reasoning that India needed good managers , scientists and technologists for areas like robotics, health and automobile engineering.
J N Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and principal scientist of Chandrayaan-1 and a key member of Mangalayaan, said scientists were taking every possible measure to ensure a hitchfree ride to Mars but conceded there were several challenges in India's maiden planetary mission, not least the 299-day , 400-million km journey from Earth. "Since communication across this vast distance has a 10-minute lag one way, scientists in the Earth station can do very little course correction as the response time will be 20 minutes . Among the most critical maneuvers will be the switch from the Earth's orbit to that of Mars," he said.
The risk factor in Mangalayaan though, is considerably lower than Nasa's as it will not attempt to land on Mars. "The landing is incredibly difficult as the speed of the lander hurtling down towards the Mars surface from 21,000 km per hour to 3 km per hour in seven minutes flat. Some 76 maneuvers are tested in isolation but never together ," said Ghosh, who is confined to a Martian existence everytime US undertakes a Mars mission.
India's Mars mission must not be driven by outcome: Nasa Official - The Economic Times
"Going from Moon to Mars is a national progression for India's space programme , a logical step after the successful Moon mission Chandrayaaan-1 . On this Mars mission, scientists should not be outcome-driven . View it as an exciting journey, another step to push back the frontiers of space. At Nasa, we have experienced many reversals but the Mars programme did not stop. India , too, must keep in mind that it (the mission) might not be perfect," said Ghosh, who had selected the GALE Crater in which the Mars rover a Tata Nano size robotic vehicle to probe and analyze the topography of the red plant, its chemical composition and the atmosphere landed last August.
Currently a member of the Mars Odyssey Mission and the Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Ghosh's involvement with the Nasa Mars programme dates back to the Pathfinder mission in 1996 and has seen both failures and spectacular successes . Last year, Russian Mars mission Phobos-Grunt and China's maiden Mars mission Yinghuo-1 encountered failures.
"Whatever may be the eventuality of India's maiden Mars mission, it is necessary for the country to continue the pursuit as it can actually transform the country's technical environment ," he said, reasoning that India needed good managers , scientists and technologists for areas like robotics, health and automobile engineering.
J N Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and principal scientist of Chandrayaan-1 and a key member of Mangalayaan, said scientists were taking every possible measure to ensure a hitchfree ride to Mars but conceded there were several challenges in India's maiden planetary mission, not least the 299-day , 400-million km journey from Earth. "Since communication across this vast distance has a 10-minute lag one way, scientists in the Earth station can do very little course correction as the response time will be 20 minutes . Among the most critical maneuvers will be the switch from the Earth's orbit to that of Mars," he said.
The risk factor in Mangalayaan though, is considerably lower than Nasa's as it will not attempt to land on Mars. "The landing is incredibly difficult as the speed of the lander hurtling down towards the Mars surface from 21,000 km per hour to 3 km per hour in seven minutes flat. Some 76 maneuvers are tested in isolation but never together ," said Ghosh, who is confined to a Martian existence everytime US undertakes a Mars mission.
India's Mars mission must not be driven by outcome: Nasa Official - The Economic Times
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