In the midst of a controversial satellite deal with a private company, Isro on Friday announced that it was planning another moon mission jointly with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the US.
The Space Commission on Friday gave Isro the go-ahead to partner with JPL, which has sent missions to Mars and Venus, for the project names “Moon Rise”, which could be launched by Nasa. Isro chairman K. Radhakrishnan said the Nasa has invited proposals under its New Frontiers Programme announced in 2009.
As per the cooperation agreement, Isro will send a satellite to orbit around the moon to transmit data to earth from rover JPL plans to send to the lunar surface.
As part of the project, JPL plans to drop a robotic lander into a basin at the moon’s south pole to return lunar rocks back to earth for study. The mission, if selected, will be launched in 2016.
“We will have to send a Chandrayaan-I like probe that will orbit the moon for about four to five years. The 400-500 kg satellite around the moon could also carry some scientific experiments of Isro,” Mr Radhakrishnan said. He said the proposal was an outcome of India-US cooperation announced during the visit of US President Barack Obama last year. —PTI