Water in Mars and Mangalyaan - Ancient India vs New India

The Mars Orbiter Mission of Indian Space Research Organisation have been orbiting the Red Planet for exactly five years. India's mission to Mars cheaper than Hollywood film. 
It was the first time a space agency had succeeded on its first Mars mission at a global stage. This is why Space aficionados consider Mangalyaan a huge success. However, if Hindu Purans and Vedic legends are to be believed, space travel is nothing new for Indians.Two of the most significant and greatest Itihasa of ancient India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, brightly explain huge, beautiful space ships that travalled fantastically to distant stars and planets.

Lest one rejects all these ancient texts as nonsensical and meaningless fantasies, consider that the presence of some of the long-forgotten sections of India's prehistory has been confirmed by modern science. Astronomy, the study of celestial phenomena, has played a significant role in all areas of life in India. It was thought that it was planetary movements that proposed favorable and unfavorable periods for religious rituals. Planetary settings were also thought to have an impact on cultivation, architecture, etc. consequently, on the one hand the science of planetary alignments developed, ,and Astrology, on the other.

Mars has been a human concern for a long time. Several Ancient Indian mathematical and astronomical texts explained the planetary representations 

Mangalyaan – New India

India’s first mission to planet Mars, Mangalyaan, stared his journey on November 5th 2013. A 350 tonne rocket carrying an unmanned probe soared into a slightly overcast sky on schedule, monitored by dozens of scientists at the ISRO spaceport at Sriharikota. One of the primary aims of the first Indian Mars mission is to develop the technologies needed in the fields of designing, planning, management, and operations of an interplanetary mission. It is India’s first interplanetary mission and with this ISRO became the forth space agency to reach Mars.

Here Are Some Main Objectives Of The Mission

Design and realization of a Mars orbiter capable of surviving and performing Earth-bound maneuvers, 300-day cruise phase, Mars orbit insertion, and on-orbit phase around Mars.

Deep space Communication, navigation, planning and management of missions. Using indigenous scientific instruments to explore the surface characteristics and atmosphere of Mars.

Significant Information MoM Sent Back 

ISRO did not publicly disclose all the scientific analysis and findings of Mars mission yet, but ISRO has put information on the environment, geology, mineralogy of Mars from the MoM’s five payloads with spme beautiful and colourful images sent back by MoM. The atmosphere of Mars is different from Earth’s atmosphere which is much thinner compared to Earth and contains excessive carbon dioxide for humans which is definitely not friendly for breathing. Mars also has absurd, month-long global dust storms.

Water on Mars

There are hints of water on Mars. Especially some marks of dried up rivers on the surface of Mars. Most of the water on Mars now appears as ice, although it also exists in small amounts as vapor in the atmosphere.What was assumed to be low-volume liquid brines in deep Martian soil, also called recurrent slope lineae, may be grains of flowing sand and dust slipping downhill to make dark streaks. The only place where water ice is visible at the surface is at the north polar ice cap. Abundant water ice is also present beneath the permanent carbon dioxide ice cap at the Martian south pole and in the shallow subsurface at more temperate conditions. Some liquid water may occur transiently on the Martian surface today, but limited to traces of dissolved moisture from the atmosphere and thin films, which are challenging environments for known life.

Life on Mars

MoM can give us some ideas about the past life on Mars. The Methane sensors on Mars found huge amount of methane gas which is often discovered as a byproduct of microbes. It might provide some indication of whether life exists some day, May be in near future we can find some microbial life in Mars.

SHUKRAYAAN Mission Venus 

ISRO is additionally planning a Venus mission, most probably in 2023.

This is how Team ISRO scripted a new chapter in India's space research with the launch of MoM for New India.

Who Discovered Water on Mars in Ancient India

World is amazed to see the highly developed science and astronomy feats of ancient India that were miles ahead compared to the most advanced science of today.  Now we will see what the ancient Indian sages knew about the Red Planet, when the other part of the world believed in flat earth concept. Varahamihira who was one of the well known astronomers, mathematicians and astrologers in ancient India whose name became a family term in every middle class home, He was first to discover ‘Water on Mars‘

Varāhamihira

The top mathematicians of the era also made important discoveries in astronomy, the most important of which was Varahamihira. Varāhamihira also called Vārāha or Mihira, was a Hindu polymath who lived in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh, India). Varāhamihira (1st century BCE, different opinion: early 6th-century), was a Hindu polymath who resided in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh, India), he also known as Vārāha or Mihira.He was born in the Avanti region, to Adityadasa, who was himself an astronomer. He was educated at Kapitthaka. Some believe that he  was one of the "Nine Jewels" (Navaratnas) of Vikramaditya's  court. On the name of king Vikramaditya, a Hindu era called as Vikramarka Saka began 56.7 years ahead (in count) of the solar Gregorian calendar. Several authoritative texts on astronomy, mathematics and astrology are also credited to Varahamihira.

Brihat Samhita & Pañcasiddhāntikā

The most remarkable work of Varahamihira was Brihat Samhita, an  encyclopedic work on architecture, temples, planetary motions, eclipses, timekeeping, astrology, seasons, cloud formation, rainfall, agriculture, mathematics, gemology, perfumes and many other topics.

Pañcasiddhāntikā is his major book that provides various interesting and mysterious information about older Indian texts which are now lost such as  Surya Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Paulisa Siddhanta, Vasishtha Siddhanta and Paitamaha Siddhanta. We Indian do not have the original copies of Varahamihira’s works with us The original copes of the works of Varahamihara. Many suppose the invaders had stolen it and brought it westward. Brahmagupta referred to the Paitamaha on Mars and other planets which did not appear in the Varahamihira overview. The Siddhanta was given  to Bhrgu by Lord Brahma.  From the post-Varahamihira era, we had Vasistha-siddhanta by Visnucandra (before Brahmagupta) and a subsequent work, Vrddha-Vasistha-siddhanta.

If The Ancient Texts Have Been Lost In The Flow Of Time Then How Can We Know What Is Written In Varahamihira’s Studies?

Varahamira’s works have been recollected from some fragile manuscripts and references of his verses in other ancient texts. For example in 14th century CE Ibn Battuta, a well-known Arabian traveler, came to India and wrote in his books that German researchers already came to India and took the copies of the studies of Varaha Mihira with him. In 10th century CE  the Persian traveler and scholar Al Biruni cited the chapters of Brihat Samhita  and the verses of Varahamihira. 

Ancient Astronomy 

Varahamihira have described a large number of comets recorded by ancient seers such as Parashara,Much before many Greek scientists and astronomers, Varahamihira also declared that earth was Spherical.His books Pancha Siddhantika gave detailed reports of comets, zodiacs, stars,  solar system, planets, their sizes etc.

Gravitation 

After Prasnopanishad, Surya Shiddhanta, and Bhagavatam, in the history of science, Varahamihira was the first to claim that some “Strong Force” is retaining bodies attached to the round Earth. Much later, Isaac Newton rediscovered the Force and established the Laws of the force through mathematical calculations.Now this force is called Gravity. Varahamihira also suggested that the moon and other planets are lustrous not through their own light but because of the sun.

What Ancient India really Knew About Mars

Varahamihira estimated planet diameters in Pancha Siddhantika. He calculated the diameter of the Mars to be 3,772 miles, with an error of about 11% of the modern scientific diameter of 4,218 miles. Varahamihira also proposed about the presence of water on Mars in this book. This book had various  informative descriptions on planet Mars (Chapter XVIII). He also wrote in his book that planet Mars has excessive iron and poison present on its soil and for these reason Mars’s surface colours is red

According to Vedic puran Mars had lives on its surface, but unfortuanately Mars was used as the ground of war or several Yugas between Devta and Asura. The Mars became dead and poisonous because of various devastative weapons used on Mars both by Devtas and Asura. Purana says the protecting layers of Mars (Most probably protecting layers indicates the martian atmosphere)  had been destroyed for frequently using of Brahmastras on Mars. 

Mars is also considered to be the Planet of Blood, Marriage and War in Vedic astrology.

Varaha Mihira Graciously Wrote

“The science of Astrology is a vast ocean and is not easy for everyone to cross it. My treatises provide a safe boat.”

V.R. Ramachandran Dikshitar, an Oxford Scholar, wrote in 1994: 

“There are numerous illustrations in our vast… and epic literature to show how well and wonderfully the ancient Indians conquered the air.” His one of the important work is The Śilappadikāram, 1939, Oxford University Press.

This article is dedicated to Mr. S. Nambi Nrayanan, India's first Mission Mars would never been possible without his contribution developing PSLV technology for India.