Scientists at IASc meet say Mars mission proves India’s capability

Dismissing the cynicism around the huge budget allocated for the project,Dr S A Haider from Physical Research Laboratory,Ahmedabad,said,“The money was spent on a project that will not only bring pride to the nation,but will also open various avenues for research and development in the future. The mission,if successful,will help in developing missile programs thereby strengthening the security of the country.”

Emphasising the mission was purely indigenous,Dr Haider,who was also a member of the committee to convince ISRO to undertake the mission,said,“The 3,000-pound orbiter ‘Mangalyaan’ has proved that India also has the capability to undertake space exploration like all other leading countries.”

With the successful placement of the spacecraft in Mars’s orbital path,India will become one of the four countries to visit the red planet following countries like Soviet Union and the United States of America.

“It is part of the learning process,” said Dr S M Chitre,distinguished faculty,UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences,University of Mumbai. Highlighting the significance of the project,Dr Chitre said,“Why do so many people scale Mount Everest,when it has been done so many times? We as researchers also want to explore the unknown and as Indians we want to prove that we are also capable of achieving such a feat.”

Dr Chitrey also emphasised that the team of scientists had made a bigger achievement by accomplishing such a big feat in a limited period of around two years. “The cabinet had given its approval only 15 months before the launch of the project,” he added.

With the scientists acknowledging the need of the mission,Dr Haider said,“Now,the challenge is to ensure that the orbiter successfully enters into the orbital of Mars. This will be confirmed only by September 2014. Hopefully,after that we will soon launch ‘Mangalyaan-2’.”