Article Posted on : - Sep 26, 2009

ISRO and NASA should deploy surface robotic penetrator in the next moon mission, says Dr. Kalam. File photo

MUMBAI (PTI): The Indian Space Research Organisation and US space agency NASA should deploy surface robotic penetrator in ‘Chandrayaan-II’ mission to study more about the presence of water molecules on moon, former President APJ Abdul Kalam has suggested.

“I suggested to both ISRO and NASA to work on future mission of Chandrayaan-II using moon surface robotic penetrator during my recent visit to California Institute of Technology in US, where NASA scientists presented the findings of Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) to Indian scientists,” Kalam told students during an interaction on Saturday.

The missile man was here to inaugurate the national science seminar on ‘Chandrayaan: Promises and Concerns’ for school students, organised by the National Council of Science Museum.

He said more validations are being carried out by the scientists on India's Moon Impact Probe (MIP) about the presence of water on lunar surface.

Kalam told students that he had also suggested space scientists to make spacecrafts weighing one-kilogram by 2050 to cut costs and bring it down to $2,000 from $20,000.

India's own device MIP on 'Chandrayaan-I' detected the presence of water on lunar surface, a finding confirmed by NASA which also had an instrument on board the craft.

The MIP while descending from Chandrayaan-I to moon, picked up strong signals of water particles giving a clear indication that hydroxil (OH) as water molecules are present on the surface.