CHENNAI: The Isro-NASA joint venture satellite mission was on course for 2021 launch on-board an Indian launch vehicle, said a senior official with the US space agency, adding they were interested in sending a payload if India planned another Mangalyaan.
Deepening their partnership, the two agencies had announced NASA-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), which would have US-made L-band radar and S-band by Isro.
“We started putting hardware together and working with Isro on various components that it is building. L-band will be shipped here for integration. We have also started building all those components that will make the spacecraft,” said General Larry D James, deputy director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA.
He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event organised by the US Consulate General at Periyar Science and Technology Centre here on Tuesday.
The microwave data from the L and S band radars will help monitor ice sheet collapses, assessment of mangroves, coastal erosion, coastline changes, and other applications for mapping and monitoring natural resources.
He said American space agency is already collaborating in Deep Space Network support like Mars orbiter. “We look to do the same thing in future Mars orbiter missions. If India plans another mission to Mars, we would like to put a NASA payload,” he said.
Are we alone in this universe?
NASA has been searching for intelligent life outside Earth for past seven decades, but have not found an answer yet. Its Kepler space telescope team in their latest release has added 219 new planets, 10 of which are near-Earth size, having similar temperature. But, there is no evidence of life yet, James said.
“There are about 26 planets in habitable zone that may support life, but Kepler doesn’t study the planet. It only classifies whether the planet is in the habitable zone or not. We plan to build a next generation telescope that will actually study the individual planet.”
Colonising Mars
As interest in colonising the ‘Red Planet’ grows due to interest shown by SpaceX founder Elon Musk among others, NASA is planning a manned mission to Mars by 2030. “NASA is in the middle of building the Space Launch System (SLS), a rocket to carry astronauts to Mars. The components will be tested in 2019,” James said.
But colonising Mars is a complicated effort. A round trip would take 2-3 years and habitation should be built underground due to intense radiation on the surface. “To carry supplies, electric propulsion is being scaled up,” he said.