Days after India's Chandryaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon's south pole, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said that the country will send a female robot "Vyommitra" to space under the Gaganyaan mission. While speaking at the NDTV G20 Conclave on Saturday, Singh said an experimental exercise of spaceflight will be conducted in either the first or second week of October. He added that the female robot would be sent to space only after the initial trials. The minister further mentioned that the project was delayed because of the pandemic.
"The Gaganyaan project got delayed due to the pandemic. Now we are planning the first trial mission in October first or second week. Bringing back the astronauts is as important as sending them," Singh was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Singh confirmed that a female robot will be sent in the second mission only and she will try to mimic all the human activities.
"In the second mission, there will be a female robot and she will mimic all human activities. If everything goes perfectly, then we can have a go-ahead," Singh said, as quoted by NDTV. Meanwhile, he also spoke on India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission and its successful landing on the Moon's south pole.
He said everyone associated with the ISRO team was nervous including him when the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft left Earth's orbit for the Moon's orbit.
"Those who have been very closely associated with the ISRO team, we nervous. My first nervous moment was when the Chandrayaan-3 craft left Earth's orbit for the Moon's orbit... The landing was so smooth," the MoS said, as per NDTV.
The Minister said the landing was a quantum jump in the journey of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the country, adding "It happened because Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw open the space sector."
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