India-Russia working on new 'Marsoplane' to explore Mars, test flight in 2024: Report

Scientists from India and Russia have collaborated again to work on a new mission to explore Mars. According to a researcher Yelena Karpovich, Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), this mission would involve a 'Marsoplane', a robotic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) meant to study Martian atmosphere and surface. 

This new Mars mission is being jointly developed by IIT Kharagpur, Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences and is part of pact signed between India and Russia in 2021 to deepen cooperation. pact was signed on December 6 of that year between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin for enhancing cooperation between ISRO and Russian ncy Roscosmos. 

" Mars robotic flying craft is being engineered by an international team that comprises computational fluid dynamics specialists from Indian Institute of Techlogy, Kharagpur," researcher told Russian media ncy TASS.  engineer revealed that work on Marsoplane began after securing funding from Russian Science Fund in April 2022 and test flight is targeted in late 2024. " scientific mission can include climatic, mineralogical and rmophysical studies, as well as study of Martian magnetic field," she said per TASS.

(Mars as seen from Perseverance rover; Im: NASA)

She also highlighted challenges to this mission which are-- making UAV lightweight, durable eugh to withstand dust storms on Mars, and making it compact eugh to fit inside rocket's fairing. atmosphere of Mars itself would be a major challenge as it is extremely thin, less than 1% in volume than on Earth and majorly comprised of carbon dioxide.

Flying an aircraft on Mars is w being seen as highly plausible after smashing success of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter. Designed for just five flights and to prove that a powered flight is possible in thin Martian atmosphere, Ingenuity went on to fly for a record 45 times. tiny helicopter also fulfills criteria of being lightweight and durable as it weighs just about two kilograms and has lasted for two years. 

(Ingenuity helicopter; Im: NASA)

India-Russia relationship amid turbulent times

Russia has been a trusted partner for India, t only geopolitically but in sector as well. relationship dates back to cold war-era when Moscow helped launch its first satellite Aryabhata aboard Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket on April 19, 1975. India has already been facing heat for refraining from openly criticise Russia over its attack on Ukraine, although this has t weakened time-tested relationship. 

Apart from Mars mission, Roscosmos is also assisting ISRO in ambitious Gaganyaan program. program will begin with a test flight later this year and culminate by sending Indian nationals to for three days. Both sides are also jointly developing India's maiden mission to Venus, ‘Shukrayaan’ which was targeted for launch next year, but is at a deadlock since France pulled out of project over Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine. Neverless, Russia is willing to carry on with project, although it might lead to a significant delay. tably, Venus has emerged as a new exploratory site for -faring nations.

US ncy NASA and European ncy (ESA) both have planned ir respective missions targeted for launch in 2029 and in early 2030s. Interestingly, US-based private launch-providing company Rocket Lab also anunced its own Venus mission in August 2022 and is targeted for launch in mid-2030, although a delay is possible.