Work in progress, an Indian in space

There is some good news for India8217;s space programme that has got obscured by the nuclear deal with the US. The US administration is goi...

There is some good news for India8217;s space programme that has got obscured by the nuclear deal with the US. The US administration is going to work towards including an Indian astronaut in the training programme at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA. And this astronaut may possibly board the US-manned space vehicle, Space Shuttle.

A factsheet released by the White House listing the initiatives to enhance joint activities in space co-operation, during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s visit, says 8216;8216;immediate benefits will include launching two US instruments on the Indian Chandrayaan-I mission to moon, and working to include an Indian astronaut in the US astronaut training programme.8217;8217;

This pathbreaking Indo-US initiative is being seen as part of an American plan for a 8216;8216;long-term human and robotic programme to explore the solar system, starting with a return to the moon that will ultimately enable future exploration of Mars and other destinations8217;8217; announced by President George Bush last year.

The Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO Chairman, G Madhavan Nair, welcomed the move, saying 8216;8216;it was indicative of the positive mood that prevailed between the two nations8217;8217;. He said the exact details and modalities of the training would be finalised by September when the US-India Joint Working Group on Civilian Space Co-operation meets.

The last time an Indian flew into space was in 1984. Rakesh Sharma was part of an Indo-Soviet joint mission. More recently Indian-born American Kalpana Chawla had flown aboard the fatal 2003 flight of the Columbia Space Shuttle.

It8217;s interesting that the USA has managed to get India to include its second payload8212; Moon Mineralogy Mapper, being built by NASA 8212; on board India8217;s first lunar mission. The payload, called Mini-Sar, of Johns Hopkins University had been cleared late last year by ISRO for the 2007 moon mission.

While ISRO denies it has any plan to send a man into space, the ambitious course being charted by the Department of Space seems to indicate that sooner or later India will take the plunge.

Story continues below this ad

By year-end ISRO plans to conduct a unique trial called 8216;Space Recovery Experiment8217; in which a 525-kg capsule launched aboard the Polar Satellite Launching Vehicle PSLV will be orbited around the earth in space for a week and then brought back into the sea, about 140 km east of Sriharikota.

This is an important first step since it will lead to the testing and mastery of the difficult re-entry technology by ISRO.

By 2008 India plans to have ready its mega launcher, the 10-tonne capacity Geo-Stationary Launch Vehicle Mark III GSLV-MK III. This indigenous launcher will definitely have the capacity to take man into space say ISRO scientists.