ISRO to launch mission to Mars by 2013 and Chandrayann-ll

RAJKOT: India would launch a mission to Mars in 2013 and Chandrayana-11 to Moon in 2016, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Deputy Project Director-Thermal Dr Alok Shrivastava indicated. Speaking to media on the sidelines of Youth-Fiesta- 2012, here, Dr Shrivastava said after the success of Chandrayaan-l, India’s ambitious Chandrayaan-2 would be launched in 2016 and would help analysis of mineral composition and undertake terrain mapping of the Moon. India’s mission to Mars will take place in 2013, he said. The ISRO will launch an unmanned space mission to orbit in 2016 as a prelude to its manned mission get an idea of the space environment and how the system behaves, Dr Shrivastava said. Dr Shrivastava is presently working as a Deputy Project Director of INSAT-3D spacecraft- the fi rst advanced Meteorological spacecraft. He has evolved the thermal design for two advanced meteorological payloads ‘IMAGER’ AND ‘SOUNDER’. Dr Shrivastava was also assigned the responsibility for forthcoming Multimedia Spacecraft GSAT-6, which will be a beginning of new era in Indian communication satellites and GISAT a totally new concept of imaging from GSO. Dr Shrivastava has published around 25 papers at national and international level and more than 150 restricted internal reports within ISRO. He had been deputed to ‘French Guiana (KOUROU)’ for INSAT- 2D launch campaign. At present, he is heading the Thermal Design Section within Thermal Systems Group, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.