India will launch its first space mission to Mars this year, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday.
“Several space missions are planned for 2013, including India’s first mission to Mars and the launch of our first navigational satellite,” Mr. Mukherjee said in his maiden address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the budget session.
The Indian Space Research Organisation will also put in orbit the first of its seven satellites of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The system is India’s version of the Global Positioning System.
The Mars Orbiter mission, scheduled for launch in October, will look for signature of life and reasons for loss of atmosphere on the red planet.
Under the mission, India will put in orbit a spacecraft using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The satellite will undertake a 300-day journey to Mars and is expected to be put into the Martian orbit in September next year.
Mr. Mukherjee said the space programme epitomised India’s scientific achievements and benefits the country in a number of areas.
“The launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on September 9, 2012 marked our 100th space mission. India’s first remote sensing satellite RISAT—1, with all-weather imaging capability, was also launched in 2012,” he said.
Keywords: Indian space mission, India's lunar programme
India should revitalize ISRO to its potential.
it will be a great step for India as it will reflect India growing
impact in the field of space...
What a waste of resources, please improve the state of India's infrastructure first, the roads, schools, hospitals, food shortages, malnourished children, corruption, terrorism, environment, nature. The list is endless, India cannot afford to spend on space exploration.
Please plan and execute building of defense equipments like chopper,
fighter jets etc.. on war-footing in India. As of now, we have not seen
any threats from Mars.
We are either too high-tech or never-tech.
I dont understand when we dont have our own manufacturing unit of arms &
ammunation, how could these government plans to send its mission to
mars? Peoples are selling kidney. It is just todays news. How could the
government spent money of peoples without looking at the peoples need?
Petrol, diesel, LPG increasing. Peoples are starving. How could they
spend peoples money in such non sense activity? Ya we can say government
investing in our security things to save from our enemy. but now it is
the government which is the enemy of our Indian peoples.
I think that the Mars mission is a great step forward for India. That's
NOT to cast any aspersion on anything else India has done in space, but
if all of humanity is to leave this gravity well behind and live in
space, then all of humanity has to explore space. I am quite interested
to see how India's Mars mission develops.
Mr. Mukherjee said the space programme epitomised India’s scientific achievements and benefits the country in a number of areas.
In which way the benefits are in mars mission, is not being mentioned by the Mr. President's office? But why such costly, staggering figure missions if India is unable to seize the Black money across within the globe itself? No prudent, sane person would imagine the hoardings/blackmoney was kept in mars!
First fix toilets in villages, give them drinking water, education and a corruption-free governance, then go to moon or mars or even on sun. Do not waste taxpayers money.
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