WASHINGTON, October 2- India and the US will cooperate on future explorations of the Red Planet which is believed to yield tangible benefits to both countries and the world at large, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
An agreement in this regard was signed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator Charles Bolden and K Radhakrishnan, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Toronto Tuesday on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress.
The two sides signed a charter establishing a NASA-ISRO Mars Working Group to study enhanced cooperation between the two countries in Mars exploration.An international agreement was also signed that defines how the two agencies will work together on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission due to be launched in 2020.
“The signing of these documents reflects the strong commitment NASA and ISRO have to advancing science and improving life on Earth,” said Bolden.The joint Mars Working Group will seek to identify and implement scientific and technological goals the two agencies have in common regarding Mars exploration.
The group will meet once a year to plan cooperative activities, including potential NASA-ISRO cooperation on future missions to Mars.One of the group’s objectives is to explore potential coordinated observations and science analysis between NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft and ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), India’s first spacecraft launched to the Red Planet.
-BERNAMA
