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ISRO for consensus on putting man on moon
Thursday, 12 August 2004, 19:30 IST
BANGALORE: India's space research agency here Thursday said it wanted a national consensus before launching a mission to put a man on the moon.
"The question whether India should go for a manned mission is being debated," G. Madhavan Nair, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman said.
"A similar debate was held before we embarked on the proposed unmanned lunar mission (Chandrayaan-1) to conduct scientific experiments on the moon's orbit."
Though a manned mission is theoretically feasible for the country, the space community is trying to examine what needs to be done for launching such a programme, he told reporters on the sidelines of unveiling the bust of Vikram Sarabhai at the ISRO headquarters.
"We need to develop some new technologies to build a life-supporting system, a space capsule with safety features to survive and a recovery operation to complete the mission," he said.
Indicating that ISRO was in the process of identifying the technologies required for a manned mission as and when decided, Nair said such a project could take seven to eight years to materialise and the estimated cost could be over 
100 billion.
"Before we embark on such a mission, a national debate and consensus is required. If it is decided, we (ISRO) do not want to lag behind in our preparation, though such a program is going to be very, very expensive for the country," Nair stated.
Even as the scientific community is seized of the issue, Nair said, ISRO was of the view that what could be achieved by a manned mission could also be accomplished by unmanned missions with instrumentation and remote operations from ground stations.
"Indian space capability and technology have come of age. We have the remote sensing system, communication satellites and robotics to conduct any space experiment remotely with sophisticated instruments.
What man can do in space, it can as well be done from here, as it will be far less expensive, more reliable and can be conducted for longer duration. If we send a person in space, the mission can only be for a short duration," Nair pointed out.
Referring to the recent manned mission launched by China, Nair said the Chinese conducted it by copying the Russian technology, whereas India did not have access to such a technology.
"We are not in competition with other countries in this field. Though we have the capability, we have to first decide how far such a manned mission is beneficial and whether we can afford to remain without it.
Only a national debate can throw up answers for a consensus to go for a manned mission," Nair added.
Source: IANS
100 billion.
"Before we embark on such a mission, a national debate and consensus is required. If it is decided, we (ISRO) do not want to lag behind in our preparation, though such a program is going to be very, very expensive for the country," Nair stated.
Even as the scientific community is seized of the issue, Nair said, ISRO was of the view that what could be achieved by a manned mission could also be accomplished by unmanned missions with instrumentation and remote operations from ground stations.
"Indian space capability and technology have come of age. We have the remote sensing system, communication satellites and robotics to conduct any space experiment remotely with sophisticated instruments.
What man can do in space, it can as well be done from here, as it will be far less expensive, more reliable and can be conducted for longer duration. If we send a person in space, the mission can only be for a short duration," Nair pointed out.
Referring to the recent manned mission launched by China, Nair said the Chinese conducted it by copying the Russian technology, whereas India did not have access to such a technology.
"We are not in competition with other countries in this field. Though we have the capability, we have to first decide how far such a manned mission is beneficial and whether we can afford to remain without it.
Only a national debate can throw up answers for a consensus to go for a manned mission," Nair added.
Source: IANS