The great space jump of India; ISRO prepares its flight for Venus

By Dr. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan

Since the success of the interplanetary mission on Mars in November 2014, the Indian Space Organization, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has been striving to multiply such missions, which would give to the agency a better understanding of the solar system while highlighting the development of India. prowess in the space field. The success of the Mars mission has boosted the Indian scientific community and allowed it to explore other planets in order to better control deep space communication and other advanced capabilities. During the Mars mission, NASA provided deep space communication support.

After Mars, Venus is considered the next ideal interplanetary mission for several reasons. First, Venus is considered the "twin sister" of the Earth because of similarities in size, mass, bulk composition, density and gravity. Given its proximity to the Sun of 30% compared to the Earth, the solar flux is higher on Venus. Venus is also warmer than Mercury, although Mercury is closer to the sun because of its thicker atmosphere. Despite this, there have been attempts to explore Venus from the 1960s through overflight missions, orbiter and even some landers. Russia undertook a total of 16 Venus missions in the Venera series between 1961 and 1983.

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NASA also undertook several missions from its Mariner 2 orbiter in 1962. NASA's last dedicated mission to Venus dates back to 1990 and mapped 98% of Venus' surface area in four years. Highlighting the importance of these missions, Jim Green, NASA Space Space Division Director, recently said, "Although Venus is known as our" sister planet ", we have a lot to learn, especially if it has already been oceans and life. By understanding the processes at work in Venus and on Mars, we will have a more complete picture of how terrestrial planets evolve over time and allow us to better understand the past, present and future. the future of the Earth. "

NASA and the Institute of Space Research (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences also recently spoke to undertake a collaborative mission to Venus that is expected to be launched in the 2020s. One of the important goals is to understand the climatic conditions of Venus and to know the causes of the endemic greenhouse effect on the planet today. The Venera-D mission will have an orbiter and a lander, and possibly even a solar-powered airship that would fly into the upper atmosphere of Venus. The US-Russia collaboration is important to date. The Russian Venera spacecraft remains the only one to successfully land on Venus and survive in difficult conditions.

ISRO also recognizes the importance of studying Venus. ISRO's mission to Venus was at the forefront of the Space Department's budget allocations for 2017-2018.

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ISRO has recently announced its intention to undertake a mission to Venus in the early 2020s and has also invited international proposals regarding scientific burdens. In an "opportunity announcement" (AO), "said ISRO," there are still gaps in our basic understanding of surface / subsurface features and processes, super rotation of the Venusian atmosphere and its evolution and its interaction with solar radiation / solar wind. . The mission will have 12 on-board scientific loads, including an S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), an advanced radar for the upper ionosphere and a sub-surface sounding, a camera Ultraviolet (UV) imaging spectroscopy, thermal imaging camera, cloud monitoring camera, Venus SpectroPolarimeter Atmospheric Airglow Photometer and Mass Spectrometer. ISRO projects for a Venus are not entirely new. Last year, ISRO called for proposals for space experiments from scientists in India. In a previous AO last year, he had stated that the proposals were being invited by Indian institutions engaged in planetary exploration studies, in the development of scientific instruments for space or space. eager to develop these experiences.

Traditionally, India did not focus on human space or interplanetary missions. According to Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, father of India's space program, and India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, India's space program aims to improve the lives of its inhabitants by focusing on economic applications and space program development applications . Five decades later, as the Indian space program moves forward, there is a natural progression that has led to a change of direction in its overall direction. Thus, in many ways, India's mission to Mars and its plans for the Venus mission must be seen as a natural progression for ISRO. These missions will give India and ISRO greater visibility, highlighting the agency's ability to conduct complex and credible missions in an economically competitive manner. This has implications, as India enters the global commercial space market as a competitive player capable of offering profitable launches to new and future players from developing countries with similar aspirations. to those of India.

However, ISRO needs to demonstrate more innovation in the political landscape and also offer opportunities to the private sector, so that it can focus on areas of common interest more vast, such as space exploration, that the private sector is unlikely to pursue. Ideally, the private sector should enjoy a level playing field, with ISRO playing the role of facilitator and focusing on more scientifically important areas, such as national security. , for which the private sector would not be suitable. At the very least, many proven programs such as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) should be handed over to private players on time. That said, ISRO's plans for Venus demonstrate the steady and steady growth and maturation of India's space capabilities, which is rightly a pride of ISRO and India.

(The author is a Distinguished Researcher and Head of the Observing Research Foundation of the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative)