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3-member crew to be sent 6,000 metre below sea level to explore resources
A three-member crew will be sent around 6,000 metres below sea level as part of a Samudrayaan Mission expected to be completed by 2026, the Union ministry of earth sciences said on Friday
A three-member crew will be sent around 6,000 metres below sea level as part of a Samudrayaan Mission expected to be completed by 2026, the Union ministry of earth sciences said on Friday.
Matsya, an Indian-made deep-submergence vehicle developed under the Deep Ocean Mission plan for the exploration of rare minerals, will carry the crew for the exploration of deep-sea resources such as minerals, Union minister of state (independent charge) earth sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh, said.
“This mission is expected to be realised in next three years. Matsya-6000 is being designed and developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in Chennai under the ministry of earth sciences,” Singh said.
“It has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety,” he added.
Announced by the government in October 2021, Samudrayaan is a manned submersible mission that will allow scientists to observe and understand unexplored deep-sea areas by direct intervention.
The Deep Ocean Mission aims to unlock the mysteries in the heart of deep waters, and if successful, will put India in an elite club of nations including US, Russia, Japan, France, and China in developing technology and vehicles to carry out sub-sea activities.
While explaining the aim of the Samudrayaan mission last year, the ministry called it a “self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration”.
Singh said on Friday that the design of the vehicle is complete, and the realisation of various components of the vehicle is in progress.
“Manned submersible facilitates the direct observation by the human in deep ocean in exploring mineral resources rich in nickel, cobalt, rare earths, manganese etc. and collection of samples, which can be used for analysis,” he said.
The Centre approved the Deep Ocean Mission at a total budget of ₹4,077 crore for five years. The estimated cost for the first phase for the three years (2021-2024) is ₹2,823.4 crore, government data shows.
“India has a unique maritime position, a 7,517km-long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382 islands. The mission aims to boost the central government’s vision of the new India that highlights the blue economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth,” a ministry statement said on Friday.
“Nearly 70% of the world is ocean, so imagine if we can explore this part, how much wealth we will be able to generate. Basic exploration is required to examine the resources and assess the mining of these resources. Currently, we know more about the moon and Mars than we know about the deep ocean and this mission will help us,” NIOT director Dr GA Ramadass said.
