India, U.S. Agree to Joint Exploration of Mars--- India’s satellite Mangalyaan has only been orbiting Mars for a week, but already space scientists back on Earth are planning their next mission: this time in tandem with the U.S. On Tuesday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration signed an agreement to work with the Indian Space Research Organisation during future explorations of Mars. They also agreed to join forces in observations and scientific analysis from their respective satellites currently orbiting the red planet. Last week, NASA’s Maven satellite entered Mars orbit two days before India’s Mangalyaan. Maven is the first spacecraft to explore the upper atmosphere of Mars, Mangalyaan is studying the surface of the planet to look for evidence of methane among other tasks. India became the first Asian nation to reach Mars and the only country in the world to have done so on its first try. The $74 million venture was far cheaper than comparable voyages and just over a tenth of the cost of NASA’s latest mission to Mars. The success, analysts said, puts India in the big league and promotes it above China and Japan in space exploration. Chinese and Japanese missions to orbit Mars have so far failed.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 08:17:14 +0000
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