Training For Manned Mission To Start Soon
The ISRO chief said the first unmanned mission under Gaganyaan will be launched by December 2020
As per the ISRO chief the first unmanned mission under to test the efficacy of Gaganyaan mission will be launched by December 2020. The second unmanned mission is being planned for July 2021 so that the manned mission by India can be launched by December 2021.
Already 12 Indian would be Gaganyatris are in the process of being selected for Gaganyaan — India’s manned mission to space — They will be sent to Russia for training in about a month, K Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said during a visit to the Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
“The process of selecting astronauts is going on. They will be going to Russia for training in about a month… We are planning to select 12 astronauts and they will go to Russia. The Russians will select four from this and then the selected four astronauts will undergo rigorous training for 15 months,” Sivan told media persons on sidelines of the 4th ISSE National Conference 2019 organised on SAC campus.
Dr Jitendra Singh, MoS for Atomic Energy and Space, was also present.
Asked if a woman astronaut is among those selected, Sivan said, “Till now, among those selected, there is no woman. But we want a woman to be there. Probably we will select one next time.” There is no woman presently simply because, the fighter stream has been opened up to them very recently.
Among the first lot of astronauts, generally the selection will be made from among the fighter pilots. Once things stabilize, it will be opened up to others and still later for even the scientists from ISRO.
