Union Minister of State for Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh on Saturday said the trials for the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO)'s Gagayaan missions will start in October. He also that the second phase of the mission will launch a female space-faring humanoid robot Vyommitra.
Who is Vyomitra and what can it do
Vyommitra is a combination of two Sanskrit words Vyoma (Space) and Mitra (Friend). Vyommitra is the prototype of the half-humanoid and has been made for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission. Female humanoid Vyommitra first made her appearance at the opening session of the 2021 event 'Human Spaceflight and Exploration - Present Challenges and Future Trends'.
Vyommitra can monitor through module parameters, send alerts and perform life support operations. It can perform activities like switch panel operations. The robot can also be a companion and converse with the astronauts, recognise them and can also respond to their queries. The half-humanoid will simulate human functions in space and also interact with the environment control life support system.
In the run up to the first Human Space Mission by India at @isro ... 'Vyommitra', the humanoid for #Gaganyaan unveiled. This prototype of humanoid will go as trial before Gaganyaan goes with Astronauts. #ISRO pic.twitter.com/pnzklgSfqu
January 22, 2020AdvertisementWhat is Gaganyaan Mission
Gaganyaan project aimns to demonstrate human spaceflight capability. It plans to launch a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
The pre-requisites for Gaganyaan mission include development of many critical technologies including human rated launch vehicle for carrying crew safely to space. It will also require a life support system to provide an earth like environment to crew in space, crew emergency escape provision and evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew.
AdvertisementThe ISRO website states that various missions are planned before Gaganyaan actually starts the mission. These precursor missions are for demonstrating the Technology Preparedness Levels before carrying out the actual Human Space Flight mission. These demonstrator missions include Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT), Pad Abort Test (PAT) and Test Vehicle (TV) flights. The safety and reliability of all systems will be proven in unmanned missions preceding manned mission.
Mission Gaganyaan:
🔸VSSC/ISRO, in collaboration with ADRDE/ @DRDO_India , successfully conducted Drogue Parachute Deployment Tests at the RTRS facility in Chandigarh.
🔸Drogue parachutes, armed with pyro-based mortars, stabilize and decelerate the crew module during re-entry… pic.twitter.com/q9AN3jAxYNAugust 12, 2023 Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.