Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists denied Thursday findings relayed by NASA rover Curiosity on September 19, that there is no trace of methane on the surface of Mars, have undermined Mangalyaan Mission or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
The first ISRO mission outside the gravitational field of the Earth, scheduled for launch on October 28, is also set to look for methane, a possible sign of life having existed on the red planet.
"The main MOM objective is to be a technology demonstrator for interplanetary missions, to demonstrate that we can travel to outer space and insert a spacecraft into the Mars orbit,'' said Deviprasad Karnik, director of public relations at ISRO.
S K Shivakumar, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre who shipped the spacecraft to Sriharikota Thursday, said MOM findings from a distance could support Curiosity findings or provide evidence of a portion of Mars not explored by Curiosity.
ISRO has, meanwhile, altered science objectives of the mission to study "Mars surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere by indigenous scientific instruments".
It hit the final lap of the Rs 450-crore mission Thursday, with the spacecraft dispatched from Bangalore Wednesday reaching Sriharikota signalling the next phase — integration of the orbiter with its launch vehicle, the ISRO workhorse PSLV-C25.
The spacecraft and the launch vehicle will undergo a series of checks before the integration by October 10.
"We have now entered the 24/7 work mode. All stations will be in constant work mode. What has been a fairly big and national effort will now narrow down to a core team effort. There may be 40-50 scientists involved in the phase to the countdown,'' said Shivakumar.
"Though spacecraft launches on the PSLV are routine for ISRO, there is anxiety about the Mars mission because it is new. We have not ventured outside the
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