ISRO’s priorities not right, says former chief Nair

[arp2041]

The Mars mission should not have been a priority at this stage for India which, instead, ought to have devoted time and energy on getting its rocket operational again and give momentum to the human space flight programme, former ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said.

“My personal opinion is: this (Mars mission) is not a big priority project for us. We should have concentrated more on qualifying the cryogenic engine (for GSLV-Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and make our manned mission initiative move forward,” Nair told PTI here.

The Union Cabinet last night gave go-ahead to the Mars mission, clearing the proposal of Department of Space to put a satellite in an orbit around Mars to study the Red Planet.

Nair, who has accomplished 25 successful missions during his tenure of six years as Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary in the Department of Space, argued that for India, the manned mission (human space flight programme) is the “immediate priority”.

“That’s where the big gap is. The United States space shuttle has failed and they don’t have a launch vehicle. Only Russians have an operating system. China went to the extent of creating a mini (space) station,” he said.

“So, in that race India is lagging behind and unless we give a major thrust to Indian manned mission, I think we will be left behind.” Nair said India’s proposed Mars mission is “only a very small payload with not very big scientific objective”.

“We cannot say we can make an impact even nationally or internationally in that (Rs 450 crore Mars mission). Terming the Mars mission as a “peripheral thing”, he said ISRO should, instead, spend its time and energy on qualifying the indigenous cryogenic engine and stage for GSLV (rocket) as also for GSLV-Mk III, which is being developed to carry four-tonne class of satellites.

Nair expressed the view that Mars mission is not a “big challenge”. India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV rocket) has proven a number of times it can put satellites into highly elliptical orbit and “if you (Mars satellite) are in the right direction, it will go around Mars”.

“It’s not even as complex as Chandrayaan-1 mission. By increasing velocity, you will reach Mars. There is not much sophistication involved (in Mars mission) whereas moon mission (Chandrayaan-1) was complex.”

Nair also noted that announcement by China that it would land an exploratory craft on the moon next year, and pointed out that India’s own similar programme (Chandrayaan-2) has been put on a “low key” compared to the Mars mission, which ISRO plans to undertake in November next year with a 25 kg scientific payload.

“It shows that the priorities are not in the right direction,” he said. In an orbit of 500 x 80,000 km around Mars, the Indian orbiter can get only “very sketchy picture” of the Red Planet.

“With highly elliptical orbit, it’s not good for imaging”. This orbit might be good for “atmospheric sounding” but NASA has published enough data on Martian atmosphere and “I don’t think we can add much value”, he said.

But he acknowledged that the Indian orbiter will have a payload to detect the presence of methane. “If that’s a success, then that could be a unique point.


ISRO’s priorities not right, says former chief Nair | Firstpost

 

[T90TankGuy]

once people leave they usually criticize the way thing worked.

 

[gslv mk3]

once people leave they usually criticize the way thing worked.

no brother..i think he is right.
i have always thought india is some 8-10 years behind china in many fields which means we will be like china(infrastructure,skyscrapers,science and technology etc)
amca,nca,high speed rail,gift city,upcoming mass rapid transit systems made be firmly beleive this until i heard indias manned space mission was delayed to 2020.also gslvs mk3s first operational flight will be in 2017
we need to go fast in manned space mission and medium heavy lift vehicle fronts.

Terming the Mars mission as a “peripheral thing”, he said ISRO should, instead, spend its time and energy on qualifying the indigenous cryogenic engine and stage for GSLV (rocket) as also for GSLV-Mk III, which is being developed to carry four-tonne class of satellites.

 

[Devianz]

Agree with him. I would term a successful GSLV with Indian cryogenic engine as number one priority. Once we cross the GSLV barrier the rest will follow quickly. GSLV is a technological barrier and our other near future SLVs are based on technology used in GSLV.

 

[jha]

Agree with him... Priorities should be RISAT class satellites and indigenous Engine...

 

[arp2041]

once people leave they usually criticize the way thing worked.

b'coz they can't go against it when they are at the helm of affairs, this is a govt. policy of mars mission, if Nair would have been the ISRO Chairman, he could not have gone against the decision & he would have ensured that the mission is a success even if he doesn't like it. He rightly said, mars mission is just turning the attention away from important things like - GSLV (with Indian cryogenic engine), GSLV-mk3, communication satellites, remote sensing satellites & human space mission. Moon mission was an important one since in the near future man would like to establish a base there, but i don't think mars will be a priority for the human beings in the 50-60 years to come.

 

[ajtr]

Rajdeep sardesai's Firstpost should be the last one to talk about ISRO's priorities.

And as for the Madhavan Nair he has more to worry about Antrix corp.scam than waste time worrying about mars mission.

 

[KRAIT]

I think its necessary to increase ISRO's funding so that it can develop infrastructure to take on parallel missions. If we want to close the gap with other nations, parallelism is the only answer as technologies developed for one mission can be cross diffuse to other. It will not only increase the efficiency of each project but also can help in acquiring techs at much faster rate.

 

[arp2041]

Rajdeep sardesai's Firstpost should be the last one to talk about ISRO's priorities.

And as for the Madhavan Nair he has more to worry about Antrix corp.scam than waste time worrying about mars mission.

It's not Rajdeep who is saying about ISRO's priorities, it's the former chairman of ISRO himself.

+ u seem to be more talented than former chairman of ISRO who achieved many milestones for India & ISRO (chandrayaan, 10 sats in one go, etc.) in his tenure & made India proud. What are u? Chairman of NASA, First attain the stature of Madhavan Nair than say anything against him, btw there is no proof against him in the Antrix Davos deal.