Working on manned space mission: ISRO chairman

ISRO’s move is similar to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) efforts to motivate undergraduates in science and technology towards innovation and research.

Additionally, following the success of ISRO’s maiden attempt at the Mars Mission, the agency is also working towards human space flight programme. “In the next few years, we are working towards the launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV),” Radhakrishnan said during a session at the Indian Science Congress Saturday.

According to him, both Chandrayaan 2 and Aditya missions would be launched by 2017. Chandrayaan 2 will be launched in 2017 towards the moon while Aditya mission will be ISRO’s attempt to probe the sun further.
Aditya-1 will be the first satellite specifically designed to study the sun’s corona.

Q & A

‘Mars orbiter will be out of networks for 15 days in June’

Q. What were the technological challenges during the Mars Mission?
K Radhakrishnan: The distance to moon is 4 lakh km while to Mars it is 55 million km. The mission took a circuitous route. The challenges were to incorporate autonomy (self-sustenance) in the spacecraft. The signal relay time was 20 minutes, so the autonomy in spacecraft is essential. (Signal relay means the time taken to communicate a message from the Earth to the spacecraft and vice versa).

Q. How is the mission doing?
K Radhakrishnan: The mission is doing well. The spacecraft was tested in a very short span of 18 months. We expected it to have a lifespan of six months. It has already completed 100 days of existence in the Mars orbit and is expected to last at least six more months. For 15 days in June, the Mars orbiter will be out of communication networks as during that period the sun will come between Earth and Mars, which will block Mars view and the communication channels.