Indian Astronaut’s ISS Mission
ISRO has made commendable progress in space exploration through the successful launcher of Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1 Solar Probe Mission. Further, ISRO is in the works to embark on an ambitious project of sending an Indian astronaut to the ISS (International Space Station) by 2024. This endeavor is part of ISRO’s ‘Gaganyaan’ mission.
India’s space journey has been marked by impressive achievements, and the ‘Gaganyaan Mission’ is poised to be a landmark event. The mission aims to send a crew of three members into orbit, where they will spend three days before safely returning to Earth by landing in Indian seawater. The target launch window for this mission is late 2024 or early 2025.
Collaboration with NASA
According to the joint statement after Bilateral Talks:
“Determined to deepen our partnership in outer space exploration, ISRO and NASA have commenced discussions on modalities, capacity building, and training for mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024, and are continuing efforts to finalize a strategic framework for human space flight cooperation by the end of 2023.”
“India and the United States also intend to increase coordination on planetary defense to protect planet Earth and space assets from the impact of asteroids and near-Earth objects, including US support for India’s participation in asteroid detection and tracking via the Minor Planet Center,”
Training and Technology
As part of the collaboration, NASA will provide advanced training to Indian astronauts at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. This training will prepare them for the challenges of space travel and the ISS mission. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, designed for Earth observation, is set for launch from India in 2024.
Exciting news – India has signed the #ArtemisAccords & ISRO has agreed to a NASA-ISRO joint mission where an Indian Vyomnaut will be sent to the International Space Station in 2024!
For this, Vyomnauts will be trained at NASA’s Johnson Space Center! #ISROpic.twitter.com/v6WVoUk4DF
— ISRO Spaceflight (@ISROSpaceflight) June 23, 2023
ISRO’s Tests & Preparations
ISRO is diligently preparing for the Gaganyaan Mission, conducting various tests, including AirDrop Test, Pad Abort Test, and Test Vehicle flights. The LVM-3 would be modified into an HRLV i.e. Human-Rated Launch Vehicle which enables the capability to carry astronauts into space.
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The agency initially began working on a human space mission in the mid-2000s, with significant progress achieved through experiments like the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) and thermal shield experiments.
Wrap Up
Thus, this is a great collaborative effort between ISRO and NASA. India has come a long way in its space exploration journey. If successfully achieved, India would be one of the few nations capable enough to send an astronaut to the ISS. So far, Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian who traveled to space.
