Preparations
On August 9, 2007 the then Chairman of the ISRO, G. Madhavan Nair, indicated the agency is "seriously considering" a human spaceflight mission. He further indicated that within a year ISRO would report on its development of new space capsule technologies.
Development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle to carry a two-member crew into a low Earth orbit has already begun. ISRO sources said the flight is likely to be in 2016. Government had allocated ₹95 crore (US$17.3 million) for pre-project initiatives for 2007 through 2008. A manned mission into space would require about ₹12,400 crore (US$2.3 billion) and a period of seven years. Planning Commission estimates that a budget of ₹5,000 crore (US$910 million) is required for initial work on the manned mission during the eleventh five-year plan (2007–12). A project report prepared by ISRO has been cleared by space commission. In February 2009 the Government of India gave the green light for the manned space flight programme, due to launch in 2016.
MC Dathan, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) stated that ISRO will set up a full-fledged training facility in Bangalore for training astronauts. ISRO is also planning to build a third launch pad at Sriharkota for manned missions with extra facilities like entry into the crew capsule and an escape chute.
The trials for the manned space missions began with the 600 kg Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, and safely returned to earth 12 days later. This demonstrates India's capability to develop heat resistant materials necessary for re-entry technology.
In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen to go into space, flying aboard a Soviet mission. Sharma was one of the people who endorsed the 2006 proposal for an Indian manned space programme.
Read more about this topic: Indian Human Spaceflight Program
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“Whatever may be the reason, whether it was that Hitler thought he might get away with what he had got without fighting for it, or whether it was that after all the preparations were not sufficiently complete—however, one thing is certain: he missed the bus.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)