ISRO to Reveal Mar's Methane Secret on Thursday

[Techy]

BANGALORE: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), whose successful Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft has put India on the global list of select countries will, on Thursday, release data from the methane sensor for Mars onboard MOM.

Data from the methane sensor is among the most anticipated data from MOM, which has four other payloads including the Mars Colour Camera (MCC), pictures taken by which have already been made public.
A positive finding is something the global scientific community will take note of. Just month before MOM's launch in November 2013, Michael Braukus a spokesperson of Nasa had told TOI: "We wish full success to MOM...We are interested in the mission data when ISRO makes it available to the international science community."

A senior ISRO official told TOI on Tuesday: "Thursday marks one year of MOM's insertion into the Martian orbit. We've received a lot of data but there is an embargo on revealing the details until its officially announced. The country will know on Thursday."

He, however, said that the sensor having recorded the radiation from the surface of mars which was in turn reflected to the Sun in January this year was significant as the investigators had anticipated it would help record presence of methane.

On November 5, 2013, present ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar, whose space application centre in Ahmedabad developed the Methane Sensor had said MOM may have better chance than NASA's Curiosity in detecting methane.

"Nasa's finding was done at a specific location on Mars. It does not cover the whole of the planet, and it is not the last word. MOM's sensor, from its position, will pick up the methane absorption wavelength and measure for the magnitude of methane up to the surface of the planet," he had said.

With the global scientific community unable to state accurately if there are traces of methane on the red planet, ISRO's finding will be key and may influence more missions to Mars.

ISRO will also release pictures from the Mars Colour Camera on Thursday.

Source>>

 

[Oracle 33]

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[scientien]

If there is traces of methane that could mean there might be bacterial forms of life a possability?

Depend on process of generation of methane