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ShareKolkata: If farmers across the country are worried about sufficient rain and scientists grapple with how climate change will play out, there is some good news: the Indian Space Research Organisation is holding out hope of being able to provide information that can help.
It is working on a geostationary satellite, which it plans to hand over in two to three years to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to help it unravel climate change trends.
"The satellite will help IMD track the changing monsoon pattern and cloud shifts," said G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Space Commission and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and, secretary, department of space, Government of India. Nair was in Kolkata on Saturday to receive the MP Birla Memorial Award 2009.
While Chadrayaan I mission is in orbit, Nair said the major challenge with Chandrayaan 2, slated for launch by 2013, was on how to land the rover on the moon. The rover cannot be parachuted because the moon does not have an atmosphere. Nair indicated that Isro was looking at using some rocket technology to ensure a safe landing for the spacecraft.
Nair said that while Chandrayaan 1 is providing valuable lunar data, Chandrayaan 2, with a lander and a rover, will provide an ideal platform for undertaking further exploration programmes. Isro is also preparing for its mission to Mars, seeing it as a stepping stone to the vast universe beyond. Nair said the scientific goals for this mission is to understand the Martian atmospheric processes and its weather/dust storms, ionosphere, effect of solar winds, surface magnetic fields, etc.
Yet, getting to Mars is a tremendous challenge and Isro would need new technology solutions to achieve it, including the ability to place a spacecraft in low altitude orbit around Mars. Nair said the main hurdle was that "scientific ideas were not coming through" but remained upbeat that the Mars mission could be finalised in a year. Isro's revenues in 2008-09 was Rs1,000 crore and it is looking at a 25% increase in the current fiscal. Nair said 15-20% of this revenue came from launching spacecraft of other countries. Isro handled projects worth Rs4,000 cr last year.
