What you need to know about India's Rs 10,000 crore space mission Gaganyaan
With the year drawing to an end, 2023 may provide us with many reasons to be excited, and Gaganyaan, India's first-ever space mission where astronauts will be sent, is something that every Indian would be excited about.
Even though the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had first aimed to send Indian astronauts to space by 2022, due to the Covid pandemic and other issues, it got postponed till 2023.
On October 27, 2022, ISRO announced that they will start a series of test flights for its Gaganyaan Mission in February 2023.
Aim of Gaganyaan? The mission aims to send three Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit for seven days aboard a spacecraft called the Gaganyaan.
What's so special about Gaganyaan?
- Gaganyaan was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2018, during his Independence Day speech.
- The Rs 10,000 crore project, will be a stepping stone for India's future space endeavours as it will be the first time that Indian astronauts will be sent to the space, just as NASA is planning missions like Artemis.
- It is a joint effort of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), ISRO and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
- HAL has previously sent experimental flights to space (without a crew though).
- The spacecraft is designed to carry three people, and an additional feature is in the works that will include rendezvous and docking capabilities (Rendezvous is the process of bringing two spacecraft together, whereas docking is their subsequent meeting and physical joining).
- For Gaganyaan to officially launch, it has at least 17 tests to pass.
Who are the three astronauts? Even though the identity of the three astronauts is not revealed yet, here's what we know so far:
- The astronauts for the Gaganyaan mission were selected through a rigorous process that included physical and mental aptitude tests and training in survival and emergency procedures.
- The astronauts have undergone extensive training in preparation for the mission, including training in Russia and the United States, and are currently undergoing further training at the Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.