Ahead of Modi's US visit, NASA, ISRO mull joint Mars Working Group
The US space agency NASA and its Indian counterpart ISRO are in talks for setting up a Joint Mars Working Group, a report said on Thursday.
"NASA is in discussions with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) regarding potential scientific collaboration with their Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)," the report said quoting James Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.
MOM is due to enter Mars orbit about two days after MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter, which will arrive at Mars later this month.
"With multiple data sets being collected, NASA and ISRO scientists will have a wealth of information to help solve mysteries regarding the Mars atmosphere," he said before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space Committee.
"In addition, NASA and ISRO are talking about setting up a Joint Mars Working Group, under the auspices of the State Department's US-India Civil Space Joint Working Group, that would coordinate our two agencies' plans for studying one of the Earth's nearest neighbors," Green said.
Both the missions of NASA and ISRO will arrive at the Red Planet just in time to join the fleet of Mars-based spacecraft that could witness the effects of comet Siding Spring, Green told lawmakers.
The emergence of the Chinese and Indian space programs and the continued successes of the European and Japanese programs illustrate that robotic exploration of space is an international priority, he said.
Ahead of Modi's US visit, NASA, ISRO mull joint Mars Working Group : World, News - India Today