After Mangalyaan success, ISRO working on manned space mission

After the success of Mangalyaan, the ISRO is working on developing the technology to send a manned mission into space, said K Radhakrishnan who recently retired as chairman of the space agency.

After the success of Mangalyaan, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on developing the technology to send a manned mission into space, said K Radhakrishnan who recently retired as chairman of the space agency.

mangalyaan

“The technology available in India needs to take a few more steps to be able to send human beings to space. ISRO is working on them,” he said while speaking at an interaction with senior space scientist Pramod Kale at the 102nd Indian Science Congress hosted by Mumbai university at its Kalina campus on Saturday.

While confirming that the data sent back by the Mars orbiter was of very good quality, Radhakrishnan said the autonomy technology developed for the Mangalyaan mission could be adapted for navigation satellites and communication satellites in the future as well.

However, for a fortnight in June 2015, the orbiter spacecraft developed will be out of reach of ground control when the Sun will obstruct the space between Earth and Mars. “At that time, it will be a major challenge to keep the spacecraft functioning on autonomy mode,” he said.