U.S. Looks To Work With India In Deep Space Exploration

U R Rao, former chairperson of ISRO and head of the committee that decides on scientific missions has long expressed a desire that India should ideally soon head to Venus.

It is believed by experts that Venus in a way resembles what could be the ultimate fate of Earth if run-away release of carbon dioxide goes on unabated and the climate continues to change with carbon dioxide being amassed in the atmosphere.

Kumar says there are many things to be learned at Venus like trying to figure out `why does the atmosphere of Venus rotate in the opposite direction'.

Some of these future planetary mission would need bigger rockets and towards that Kumar says India's indigenously made Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-II (GSLV Mk-II) is probably going to be the preferred vehicle as it has `superior capabilities'. The almost 50 meter tall rocket that weighs as much as 414 ton is capable of hoisting a 2500-kilogram satellite on inter-planetary voyages.

India has had hugely successful inter-planetary missions, the most recent being Mangalyaan that reached the Martian orbit in 2014 and continues to operate with vigour sending back scientific data to India.

The Mars Orbiter Mission or (MOM) was launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Kumar says `we have demonstrated the overall capability that we can go up to Mars with a minimal launcher using the PSLV'.

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