India can take up Mars mission in 2012: ISRO

Bangalore, Apr 11: India can launch a mission to Mars in 2012, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair indicated today.

Talking to newspersons here, he said ISRO had received a proposal for Mars mission from the Indian scientific community and it was being looked into. If feasible, the mission could take place in 2012. The GSLV was capable of taking an Indian spacecraft of up to 500 kg weight to Mars, he added.

On manned mission, Dr Nair said ISRO had received an allocation of Rs 80 crore in the current budget for preparing a detailed project report and other requirements. ISRO would be in a position to submit the report to the Government for clearance in a year. Once the approval was received from the Government, the mission could be launched eight years from then. Detailed studies need to be carried out on various aspects of the manned mission, including training, before it could be implemented, he explained.

To a question, he said the payload for the Chandrayaan I mission was being finalised and tested and it would be integrated later this year for the mission to take off early next year. Scientists from NASA had visited India and ISRO scientists had also visited the US for discussions on the payload.

UNI