Mars Orbiter Mission 2, also called ‘Mangalyan-2’ will be India’s second orbiter mission, said Mr. K Sivan, Chief of Indian Space Research Organisation. After the first MOM- Mars Orbiter Mission became successful, ISRO called for the ‘announcement of opportunities’ on the second Mars Mission.
Mr. Sivan stated that the first Mars Mission is still functioning well and is sending data and has sent over thousands of pictures consisting of more than two terabytes. the first MOM was launched in November 2013 and had entered the orbit in September 2014. The Union Minister of State Mr. Jitendra Singh stated that a call for proposals through an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) has been made within India to seek proposals for scientific experiments for Mars orbiter’s second mission.
Speaking about the commission of the space program, he said that the space agency had asked the scientific community for suggestions on possible experiments and is in the process of receiving those. ”Once we get the required suggestions, we will get the project report and will discuss it further in the expert committee”, he added.
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It is yet not known when the mission shall commence. Mr. K Sivan stated that the second Mangalyaan-2 will be undertaken only after the launch of Chandrayaan 3, India’s forthcoming moon mission expected to lift off in 2022, in which ISRO is planning to land a rover on the lunar surface. Talking about Mangalyaan 2, Mr. Sivan said that it will be more difficult to land there. The mission’s capital is about Rs. 450 crore which is the cheapest-ever for any interplanetary mission and it the Mangalyaan has travelled around 780,000,000 Kms to reach Mars.
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