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NEW DELHI: After the success of the historic Chandrayaan-3 mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation has a series of exploration missions lined up before it, including those to planets like Mars and Venus.
Isro chief S Somanath said that the space agency has drawn up plans to launch a series of missions, besides the maiden human spaceflight under the Gaganyaan programme.
Isro will launch missions to study the climate and weather conditions of the Earth, the space agency chief said, according to PTI.
Besides, Isro is also working on regular scientific missions including communication, remote sensing satellites, Somanath, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, said here.
Speaking about the Gaganyaan programme, he said the maiden TV-D1 test flight is scheduled for October 21.
Discussing future missions, Somanath said, “We have exploration plans for Mars, Venus, and a return to the Moon. Climate and weather analysis programs are also in progress.”
Highlighting the agency’s commitment to launching satellites for communication and remote sensing, headded, “Scientific missions covering areas like aeronomy, thermal imaging, and climate change impact are on the agenda.”
‘Vikram happily sleeping on Moon’
Addressing a query about the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Somanath said that Vikram performed its functions flawlessly during its lunar day, as programmed.
“It is happily sleeping on the Moon. It has done its job very well. Maybe if it wishes to wake up, let it wake up. Until then, we will wait,” he said. Isro made efforts to re-establish communication with rover Pragyan and lander Vikram after they were put into sleep mode in September following the onset of night on the Moon.
“No signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue,” Isro had said.
After the historic landing on August 23, lander Vikram and rover Pragyan performed different tasks on the lunar surface, including detecting the presence of sulphur and recording relative temperature.
Regarding Aditya L1, the maiden mission aimed at studying the Sun, Somanath said that the spacecraft is in excellent health and is currently in the midst of a 110-day voyage toward the Lagrange point L1. It is anticipated to reach its designated destination by the middle of January.
“It is a long journey. It is almost 110 days of journey and it has covered some distance now. We corrected a little bit of its trajectory, because early correction is important to reach the L1 point. After tracking, we find it is going in the right direction towards the L1 point,” he said.
Observing that the rocket is on a ‘complex travel’, Somanath said, “It takes almost another 70-75 days further to reach. By the middle of January, it will reach there. After that, we will make some corrections to make it enter into the Halo orbit at the L1 point.”
“After that instruments will be switched on and it will start doing the scientific data streaming. Currently, everything is very healthy on Aditya L1,” he said.
Aditya-L1 was launched on September 2, and it is the first Indian space-based observatory that will study the Sun from a halo orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), which is located roughly 1.5 million km from the Earth.
Earlier, Somanath visited the residence of renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, who passed away on September 28. He met the family members of the eminent plant geneticist known as the driving force behind India’s ‘Green Revolution’, here in the city.
“I am here today just to pay my tributes and my affection to his (M S Swaminathan’s) contribution… Whoever works in whichever field whether it is space, agriculture or sustainability and many other domains, we all find a place to work together,” he said.
“Thank you so much for the opportunity. His (M S Swaminathan’s) legacy will continue to inspire more young people in the country to work in science and technology.” Somanath said.
(With inputs from PTI)
Watch ISRO plans 4-5 launches by January, monthly launches in the pipeline
Isro chief S Somanath said that the space agency has drawn up plans to launch a series of missions, besides the maiden human spaceflight under the Gaganyaan programme.
Isro will launch missions to study the climate and weather conditions of the Earth, the space agency chief said, according to PTI.
Besides, Isro is also working on regular scientific missions including communication, remote sensing satellites, Somanath, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, said here.
Speaking about the Gaganyaan programme, he said the maiden TV-D1 test flight is scheduled for October 21.
Discussing future missions, Somanath said, “We have exploration plans for Mars, Venus, and a return to the Moon. Climate and weather analysis programs are also in progress.”
Highlighting the agency’s commitment to launching satellites for communication and remote sensing, headded, “Scientific missions covering areas like aeronomy, thermal imaging, and climate change impact are on the agenda.”
‘Vikram happily sleeping on Moon’
Addressing a query about the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Somanath said that Vikram performed its functions flawlessly during its lunar day, as programmed.
“It is happily sleeping on the Moon. It has done its job very well. Maybe if it wishes to wake up, let it wake up. Until then, we will wait,” he said. Isro made efforts to re-establish communication with rover Pragyan and lander Vikram after they were put into sleep mode in September following the onset of night on the Moon.
“No signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue,” Isro had said.
After the historic landing on August 23, lander Vikram and rover Pragyan performed different tasks on the lunar surface, including detecting the presence of sulphur and recording relative temperature.
Regarding Aditya L1, the maiden mission aimed at studying the Sun, Somanath said that the spacecraft is in excellent health and is currently in the midst of a 110-day voyage toward the Lagrange point L1. It is anticipated to reach its designated destination by the middle of January.
“It is a long journey. It is almost 110 days of journey and it has covered some distance now. We corrected a little bit of its trajectory, because early correction is important to reach the L1 point. After tracking, we find it is going in the right direction towards the L1 point,” he said.
Observing that the rocket is on a ‘complex travel’, Somanath said, “It takes almost another 70-75 days further to reach. By the middle of January, it will reach there. After that, we will make some corrections to make it enter into the Halo orbit at the L1 point.”
“After that instruments will be switched on and it will start doing the scientific data streaming. Currently, everything is very healthy on Aditya L1,” he said.
Aditya-L1 was launched on September 2, and it is the first Indian space-based observatory that will study the Sun from a halo orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), which is located roughly 1.5 million km from the Earth.
Earlier, Somanath visited the residence of renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, who passed away on September 28. He met the family members of the eminent plant geneticist known as the driving force behind India’s ‘Green Revolution’, here in the city.
“I am here today just to pay my tributes and my affection to his (M S Swaminathan’s) contribution… Whoever works in whichever field whether it is space, agriculture or sustainability and many other domains, we all find a place to work together,” he said.
“Thank you so much for the opportunity. His (M S Swaminathan’s) legacy will continue to inspire more young people in the country to work in science and technology.” Somanath said.
(With inputs from PTI)
Watch ISRO plans 4-5 launches by January, monthly launches in the pipeline
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