Dr. Amitabha Ghosh, a NASA planetary geologist on the Mars missions, wants to bring the excitement of exploring space to India. Along with colleagues from NASA -- both US-born and India-born -- Dr. Ghosh has started the Tharsis India Initiative, an attempt to accelerate space science education in India. The site includes a wide variety of links to NASA and JPL resources, as well as activities aimed squarely at young students.

The Tharsis India team will be visiting India from June 10-June 24, talking about their experiences working on Mars missions. Dr. Ghosh is a vocal advocate of building up the Indian space program. India has a fairly well-established domestic satellite industry, but has not yet ventured beyond Earth orbit.

(Via The Scientific Indian)