Work on human space mission began in 2004: ISRO chief
India's space agency ISRO began work on developing critical technologies to send humans to space way back in 2004 but the project was not on the "priority list", its chief K Sivan said today. However, the political decision to take the project forward was taken by the government, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Jitendra Singh, added.
Work had started, but it wasn't on priority list: Sivan
PM Narendra Modi had announced in his Independence Day speech that an Indian would be sent to space before 2022. "The experiments have been going on since 2004 but it wasn't on our priority list," Sivan told reporters at a joint press conference with Singh. That did not mean the Indian Space Research Organization was not going to take up this project, he added.
Decision on human space mission was a political one
"The decision to send humans to space was more of a political decision as ISRO's focus had been on undertaking projects that supported critical areas like communication, agriculture, and climate," Singh said. "We had planned it, and we were waiting for the Prime Minister to make an announcement... (since) it is a very significant announcement," the Minister added.
ISRO had developed critical technologies for the mission
For the human space mission, ISRO has developed critical technologies like re-entry mission capability, crew escape system, crew module configuration, thermal protection system, a sub-system of life and support system required, and the prototype of a space suit. The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) was conducted in 2007, Crew Module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE) in 2014 and Pad Abort Test in 2018, scientists said.
What is the Pad Abort Test?
The Pad Abort Test demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency during the launch of the mission.
India and France's space agencies to work together
In the joint vision statement for space cooperation by India and France in March this year, the space agencies of the two countries agreed to develop technologies for human exploration of the universe. Under this, ISRO and CNES (Centro Nacional de Estudios Espaciales) would jointly develop capabilities and critical technologies to address radiation shielding solutions, personal hygiene, and waste management system for human space-flight.
