California: December 29, 2007 - Monica Groover from California interviews Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist from India, on exploration of Mar, as to when it shall be practical for NASA to start sending man on Mars for exploration for the benefit of interested serious students of astronomy and people at large?

Monica Groover: Dr. Raj Baldev, Your comments on exploration of Mars need more clarity for serious students and the people at large. I would first like to know about your opinion on the scientific advancement of NASA.

“Don’t you think, Dr. Raj Baldev that NASA is on the right path and can ultimately achieve the target of landing man on Mars and form a colony in just 5 to 7 years instead of waiting for the Nature to transform the temperature of the red planet in a course of a million years?”

Dr. Raj Baldev: In this case, I would like to trace some facts from the outset to meet the requirement of serious students and people at large.

“NASA’s steps to explore Mars have been remarkable  from the beginning. They actually first tried to know more about the Solar System with a view to go into details of Mars and for that they planned three phases:

Flyby Mission:

"They had three stages. If I am not in the wrong, their first mission was flyby Mars, and they succeeded in taking hundreds of pictures to study from all angles and that was, most probably, their primary requirement and they did a remarkable job. Their Flyby missions included Mariner 3-4 | Mariner 6-7.

Orbiters:

"The second step NASA wanted to take was to upgrade their technologies and to send aircraft on Mars to know maximum about it. For this they put spacecraft in orbit around Mars for a longer period for global studies. Their orbit missions included Mariner 8-9 | Viking 1-2 | Mars Observer | Mars Climate Orbiter | Mars Global Surveyor | 2001 Mars Odyssey | Mars Express | Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter."

Landers and Rovers:

"Third step which NASA planned was to have broader views of the Martian sky." Dr. Raj Baldev said.

Dr. Raj Baldev continued:"NASA  has a future planning in mind to know what was there in Mars below the ground in geological terms and also about presence of water and its volume and any useful clues whether Mars ever was a habitat for life.

"For all that they had to land their craft on the surface. With pace of time, they not only succeeded to land at one place but could move to any other point, or place to place Landed missions include: Viking 1-2 | Pathfinder | Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 | Mars Exploration Rovers," Dr.Raj Baldev said.

Future Planning: Airplanes and Balloons:

Dr. Raj Baldev: "NASA plans to send craft that can study the planet from a perspective NASA has never achieved before like soaring views from the Martian sky."

Subsurface Explorers:

Dr. Raj Baldev continued: "NASA has also a future planning in mind to know what is there in Mars below the ground in geological terms and also about presence of water and its volume and any useful clues whether Mars ever was a habitat for life. For all this, they want to go deep into the subsurface of the land. 

"Sample Returns:

" NASA wants to get maximum samples from the martian rocks, soils and atmosphere and to bring back to the Earth to study more closely, and to analyze in the lab for future planning." Dr. Raj Baldev said.

Continued….