ISRO prepares for manned space mission

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing for a manned space mission ahead of its more ambitious plans of moon and Mars missions in the future.

"This is a step in the direction of future plans of ISRO to send man to planetary targets like the moon and Mars," a top ISRO scientist said today.

"Currently, there is no plan to send a man to moon by ISRO, but we are preparing ourself to send a man to space to orbit around earth and bring him back after a few days," Mylswamy Annadurai, ISRO's Project Director for Chandrayaan-1, told PTI from Bangalore.

Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned moon mission, is expected to be launched early next year.

"The efforts to send man is to acquire the required technologies for a human space mission. Initial phase has started to synergise the required efforts for the same," Annadurai said.

"Once we succeed in our effort, the next incremental step will be to look for the planetary targets like moon, Mars. If an Indian has to go to the moon, then that depends on what data we gather from Chandrayaan-1 and possibly another unmanned mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2," he said.

If resources (data) substantiate the requirement for human presence on the moon or Mars, "then we will be ready for it," the scientist said. (PTI)