NEW DELHI, Aug 26: India will send a female robot “Vyommitra” in the Gaganyaan mission as a trial before sending an astronaut, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.
Singh said a trial spaceflight would be attempted in the first or second week of October. In the subsequent mission, the female robot “Vyommitra” would be sent to space, he said.
“The Gaganyaan project got delayed due to the pandemic. Now we are planning the first trial mission in October first or second week. Bringing back the astronauts is as important as sending them,” the Union Minister said.
“In the second mission, there will be a female robot and she will mimic all human activities. If everything goes perfect, then we can have a go-ahead,” Singh said.
He also narrated the relief they felt when the Chandrayaan-3 lander finally touched down near the Moon’s South Pole.
“Those who have been very closely associated with the ISRO team, were nervous. My first nervous moment was when the Chandrayaan-3 craft left Earth’s orbit for the Moon’s orbit… The landing was so smooth,” Singh said. He said the Moon landing was a quantum jump in the journey of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the country.
(Manas Dasgupta)
