"We have signed a deal and this would enable both ISRO and NASA for future joint space explorations including Mars and other inter-planetary missions," Kasturirangan, also the director of National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore said here last evening at the 47th foundation day of the Indian Institute of Technology.

The deal would also enable ISRO to carry an American payload on top of its maiden Moon mission, Chandrayan-1, he said adding both the space agencies were working on the project.

Describing the Indo-US deal on civilian nuclear cooperation as an important step forward, Kasturirangan said this would create a greater demand for research and development activities in the area of nuclear technology.

"Since the RandD activities will be getting greater demand we have to attract more younger scientists and engineers to take up challenges in this fast growing field," he said.

Calling upon Indian bureaucrats and administrators to gear up for working with their American counterparts he said, "we should take advantage of this scenario to work fast with them and even move ahead of them."

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