Set for india?

Bangalore, Nov. 7: Will India put a man on the moon?

After a closed-door meeting at the Indian Space Research Organisation, scientists today concluded that they were open to the idea but safety would be the first concern.

Isro chairman G. Madhavan Nair set the ball rolling by discussing the pros and cons of such a mission with around 80 scientists from across the country.

According to sources, Nair said a manned space mission was a logical step after the unmanned moon odyssey, Chandrayaan I, scheduled for 2008.

The Isro meet was convened after President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam recently said there should be an Indian walking on the lunar surface, especially with several countries having announced manned missions.

The director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, B.N. Suresh, and his team presented detailed studies carried out by Isro in the last four years to examine the technological challenges a manned moon mission would pose.

The concept includes the development of an autonomous orbital vehicle, which could be launched by the Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle MK II or MK III.

The studies highlighted that Isro had achieved maturity in several technologies required for a manned moon mission.

However, new developments were required in life-support systems, crew escape systems, reliability, safety and other areas, the study noted.

While some of the facilities required are available in the country and could be used with augmentation, a few have to be established afresh, Suresh said.

Isro has pegged the cost of the manned moon mission in the vicinity of Rs 10,000 crore over a period of eight years.

“This is only a preliminary assessment, the final figure could go up a few notches,” a source said.

The scientists said the time was ripe for India to undertake a manned mission, but stressed the need for reliability and safety.

They said these aspects needed to be studied in detail before embarking on the ambitious project.

Among those who attended today’s meeting were former Isro chairman U.R. Rao and India’s first man in space, Wing Commander (retd) Rakesh Sharma.

The Isro had thought of a manned mission when K. Kasturirangan was at the helm. It was debated for several months before Chandrayaan I, the unmanned mission, was announced by Nair, Kasturirangan’s successor.