U.S., India Agree To Collaborate on Mars Exploration, Earth Observation

摘要

India and the United States will collaborate on a radar Earth observing satellite and in robotic Mars exploration, the latter activity beginning with two orbiters that recently arrived at the red planet, NASA and the White House announced Sept. 30. Under one agreement, NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation will establish a working group that will meet yearly to examine activities including possible joint missions to Mars, NASA said in a press release. One of the group's early objectives will be to explore coordinated observations between NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution probe and ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission, which arrived in Mars orbit Sept. 21 and 24, respectively, the U.S. space agency said. The second agreement defines the roles and responsibilities for each side in the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission, which is targeted for a 2020 or 2021 launch, NASA said.