Bangla can be read on Mars

If you land on planet Mars today, you have a chance of reading a few words in two Indian languages, thanks to two Rovers launched by NASA in its bid to study the planet.

''The first sun dial sent to Mars has 18 languages covering 3/4th of the world. Hindi and Bengali have made it to the board. Many of the drawings sent by children across the world also have been incorporated. It will be a monument and message for the future,'' said Dr Amitabha Ghosh, only Asian on NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission.

Giving the details of the mission, he said it was the first sun dial outside earth. Earlier, sun dials were used to calculate the time when modern instruments were not available, he pointed out.

Claiming that the Mars mission had been success and outlived its expectations, he said they would be carrying out a couple of more missions in the future.