Dr Amitabha Ghosh holds the chair of the science operations working group at NASA Mars Exploration Rover Mission and is a key member of the team that zeroed in on the Gale crater location where Curiosity landed on Monday morning. He interacted with IBNLive readers in a live web chat. We bring you some of the interesting snippets of the interaction.
On the objective of the mission:
"Curiosity will look for organic molecules on Mars. From previous NASA missions, we know that water exists on Mars today: at the poles and at the subsurface. The next step in tackling the question of life on Mars is to ascertain whether organic compounds exist on Mars. It's difficult to predict the scientific results beforehand, but from an engineering standpoint, I feel that Curiosity will herald an era of effective as well as inexpensive method of exploring other planets using rovers and other robotic vehicles. From the scientific standpoint, it is possible that Curiosity will find organic compounds on Mars.
We have 13 instruments which will help address the scientific question. Imagine you are a geologist on Mars. The spacecraft is like a robotic geologist. The instruments will provide scientific data on mineral composition, on geology, about atmospheric conditions of Mars. Indeed, it will ascertain the presence of water, it will provide the composition of minerals too."...
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04:34 PM, Aug 06, 2012
New Delhi: Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the country, after heart disease and cancer. While a massive stroke can kill you within minutes, you can save yourself if you recognise the symptoms in time. Dr Amit Verma, speaking to CNN-IBN, marks out what you can do to save yourself. Symptoms of a stroke: A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or...
09:50 AM, Dec 02, 2011
New Delhi:<./b> There are many myths surrounding MMR vaccines and autism. Dr. Amit Verma gives advices on the myth. Scientifically the debate is over. The Lancet earlier in 2010 retracted a controversial article it had published back in 1998 that supposedly found a link between the MMR vaccine and children developing symptoms of autism. The study has been discredited and a panel found that the lead author of the study...
11:47 AM, Nov 12, 2010
Dr Amit Verma discusses how to make an informed choice about diagnostic tests to rule out heart diseases. ...
06:34 PM, Oct 26, 2010
Dr Amit was in coma for 45 days and finally gave up. ...
01:01 AM, Mar 16, 2009
New Delhi: After terminating cash-strapped Deccan Chargers from the Indian Premier League, the BCCI on Sunday began the process of finding a new team by floating tender notices for a fresh franchise. Under this invitation to tender, the winning bidder will be granted the right to own and operate a new team which will compete in the IPL in each year from and including 2013 onwards and will have the ...
09:47 AM, Jul 07, 2008
Chennai: Despite an indifferent IPL 5 so far, Chennai Super Kings bowling coach Andy Bichel believes that his side can still comeback and win the tournament for the third time in a row. There are a lot of expectations from the fans. Winning three in a row is a high standard in IPL for us. It is a challenge for us. Ours is a good enough team to win this ...
09:21 AM, May 19, 2008
New Delhi: The contest between the two hottest teams in international cricket at the home of cricket will not just go down as a colossal clash. The first Test beginning from July 21 at Lord's will be the 2000th Test in the history of the game and will mark a century of clashes between India and England. After the thrilling drawn game in the ICC World Cup against India, England...
12:37 PM, Feb 13, 2008
Bridgetown: West Indies coach Ottis Gibson insisted that the explosive opener Chris Gayle does not figure in the team talks and that his entire energy was devoted to doing well against India in the second Test. Gayle is out of the national squad due to a row with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). "We don't sit down and discuss Chris Gayle. We discuss how to get Dravid and Laxman...
08:18 PM, Feb 08, 2008
Karachi: Pakistan's cricket administrators will hold talks with the government on how to implement a ban by the sport's governing body on political appointments within the game, an official said on Saturday. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), whose chairman Ijaz Butt was appointed by the president of the country, is directly hit by the ruling from the International Cricket Council (ICC) executive board on Thursday. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will...
08:09 PM, Feb 08, 2008
Kidney transplant is an expensive procedure and cannot be done without the help of experts. ...
12:48 PM, Feb 08, 2008
Bridgetown: Speedster Ishant Sharma on Thursday scalped his 100th Test wicket on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies here. Ishant scalped the wicket of West Indies captain Darren Sammy in the post-lunch session, his fourth wicket in the home side's first innings, to reach the milestone at the Kensington Oval. Ishant, who achieved the milestone in his 33rd Test, became the third youngest Indian to...
01:26 AM, Feb 08, 2008
Hong Kong: Former captain Sourav Ganguly has welcomed the ICC's decision to make the DRS mandatory for Tests and ODIs but also justified India's initial reluctance to embrace the technology. Ganguly said he has now seen a vast improment in the way DRS works and gradually all the cricketers will get adjusted to techonolgy and there will be improvement in the decision. Ganguly was a part of the Indian team...
01:07 AM, Feb 08, 2008
Barbados: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried putting an end to the discussions about being wrongly given out, stating that he would blame himself rather than anyone else for playing a poor shot. I think I played a wrong shot, Dhoni said informally, criticising himself instead of blaming the broadcasters for showing the wrong replay which led to his dismissal. Dhoni was out playing uppishly to mid-on and had begun...
01:04 AM, Feb 08, 2008
New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram on Monday said that India's youngsters "wasted" their opportunity by their inconsistent performances in the One-day series against the West Indies. India won the series 3-2 but the West Indies did well to reduce the margin of victory. It was a good chance for the likes of Subramaniam Badrinath, Shikhar Dhawan, Parthiv Patel and Manoj Tiwary but they all ended the series with...
09:18 PM, Feb 05, 2008
Chennai: The IPL has a new chairman, the league has two new teams, but the champion is still the same. Guess, something's never change! What also does not change is the ability of a team to play as a unit and that was the key to Chennai's second straight IPL title as they comprehensively beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday night at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here. And Man...
07:49 PM, Jan 30, 2008
London: England fast bowler James Anderson has said his team's target of getting to the top of the Test rankings is a realistic one and they will stake their claim for it by beating Sri Lanka and India at home this summer. Anderson, who played a key role in England's Ashes triumph in Australia, said winning against the number one side and World Champion India and Sri Lanka will take...
09:37 PM, Jan 28, 2008
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Gautam Gambhir said they have positives to take away from their final round-robin game of the IPL that the home team lost to Mumbai Indians in an unlikely fashion at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. After setting Mumbai Indians a tall 177-run target, the Knight Riders lost the match in the last over when, needing 21 runs, Laxmipathy Balaji conceded 23 including four fours and...
08:34 PM, Jan 28, 2008
Dr Amit Varma of Fortis Healthcare explains a the heart disorder in babies. ...
11:32 AM, Sep 16, 2007
Dr Amit Varma who is director of Critical Care, Fortis tells you how to get the most out of a doctor’s visit. ...
11:35 AM, Apr 09, 2007
