Even as the second Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams braces up to board the US space shuttle later this year, there is no seat available in NASA space missions to fly an Indian astronaut, a top official of the US agency said on Tuesday.
"We could not train an Indian astronaut at the Johnson Space Centre last year although we would have been happy to do that," National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator Michael Griffin told reporters in Bangalore.
"As we are restricting the space shuttle flights to only those missions necessary for completing the International Space Station (ISS) and one mission for the Hubble space telescope, there is no seat left for an Indian trained astronaut on board the shuttle over the next four years," Griffin said.
He was in Bangalore to sign an agreement with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to send two American advanced scientific instruments on board Chandrayaan-I, India's first moon mission, in 2008.
In the aftermath of the Columbia space shuttle's crash on February 1, 2003, resulting in the death of first Indian American astronaut Kalpana Chawla along with six other crew members, NASA had restricted its future missions to 17 space flights. Budgetary constraints were also responsible for the move.
"In view of the existing agreements we have with the other member countries for the ISS and other constraints, we could not promise a flight for the Indian trained astronaut though we will be happy to train one," Griffin pointed out.
{{/usCountry}}"In view of the existing agreements we have with the other member countries for the ISS and other constraints, we could not promise a flight for the Indian trained astronaut though we will be happy to train one," Griffin pointed out.
{{/usCountry}}NASA has a crew exploration vehicle but it is not used for space missions. It also has simulators to train astronauts in space condition.
Besides NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), space agencies of Russia, Japan and Canada are the partners collaborating in setting up the multi-billion dollar ISS for conducting experiments, research and space explorations by 2010.
"I think in view of these developments, India has decided not to invest in training an astronaut," Griffin added.
Williams will be part of a three-member crew for the six-month-long ISS expedition late this year or early 2007.
"She will travel to Expedition 14 on the space shuttle STS-116, and serve as flight engineer on the space station.
"Her fellow crew members are Michael Lopez-Alegria, a veteran of three space flights, who will command Expedition 14, and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, a veteran station crew member from Expedition 3," Griffin pointed out.
Meanwhile, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said no decision had been taken on sending a manned mission from the Indian soil into the space orbit or moon.
"We have not made up our mind on whether to go for a manned mission. It will take a few years or so to decide on such a mission," Nair said.
Indian space scientists, however, were considering building capabilities to send a robotic mission into space.
"We are in the process of evaluating such a project, especially around the earth and lunar orbits. When the requirements come for manned or robotic space missions, we will definitely look at such an opportunity," Nair said.