Unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, may have been abandoned

Tuesday, September 01, 2009:  India’s first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, may have been abandoned after the country’s national space agency lost radio contact with the spacecraft on Saturday. But Indian astronauts are now gearing up for bigger challenges with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announcing plans to launch its first mission to Mars sometime between 2013 and 2015. ­­­­

“The project would be taken up after Chandrayan II,” Madhavan Nair said.
The space agency says it has begun preparations for sending a spacecraft to Mars to explore the red planet in quest of its space ambitions. G. Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO yesterday told local media in Panaji, capital of the western state of Goa, “We have given a call to international agencies to submit their proposals. We will be able to plan our mission depending on the type of experiments they propose to conduct.”

In August, the Government had sanctioned Rs 10 crores for the project. Instead of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) used in the lunar mission, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) would be used for the Mars project and placing the spacecraft to its orbit. ISRO may even use nuclear power to propel the craft towards Mars.

ISRO is also making efforts to bring down the cost of the Mars mission, as was done with the Chandrayaan-1 mission, which cost less than $100 million.

Moreover, the space agency will tap a lot of young scientists for the Mars mission, particularly from the Indian Institute of Space Technology, the Physical Research Laboratory, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and other research laboratories.

Madhavan Nair has been elected as the president of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). Nair has also become the only Indian and the first non-American to head the renowned scientific body. Nair, who is presently IAA’s vice president for scientific activities, will take over from Edward Stone, during the International Astronautical Congress to be held in Korea later this year.