ISRO gears up for human spaceflight programme, Chandrayaan-2 launch by mid-April

Declaring that India's second Moon mission is planned for mid-April this year, ISRO Friday said it was also gearing up for its maiden human spaceflight programme 'Gaganyaan' by 2021-end that is likely to include a woman astronaut.

The space agency had earlier said Chandrayaan-2 will be launched in a window from January-February 16, 2019.

"Right now Chandrayaan is scheduled from March 25 to April end. Most probably, the normal targeted date is April middle," ISRO Chairman K Sivan said.

The space agency had earlier planned to launch the spacecraft sometime between January and February but it could not materialise because certain tests could not be conducted, Sivan told reporters as he laid out ISRO's programmes.

"If we miss April, it will go to June," he said in response to a question about the next launch window available, adding that "but, we will be targeting April".

Chandrayaan-2 mission, costing nearly Rs 800 crore, is an advanced version of the previous Chandrayaan-1 mission about 10 years ago. It is a totally indigenous venture and comprises an orbiter, a lander and a rover.

After a controlled descent, the lander will soft-land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy a rover, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The six-wheeled rover will move around the landing site on the lunar surface in a semi-autonomous mode as decided by the ground commands.

The instruments on the rover will observe the lunar surface and send back data, which will be useful for analysis of the lunar soil.

The 3,290-kg Chandrayaan-2 will orbit the Moon and perform the objectives of remote sensing it.

The payloads will collect scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice, the space agency said.

It might take 35 to 45 days to reach the Moon after the launch, as ISRO plans six-stage orbit raising manoeuvres, Sivan said.

Noting that India is nowhere behind China, Sivan said Beijing has landed on the far side of the Moon and "we are going to land at a place where nobody else has gone- the Moon's south pole."
"Our Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) has a system, but advanced training may have to be done outside the country mostly in Russia."
Asked about women crew members, he said, "We want women astronauts also should be there. That is our aim. In my opinion, we have to train both men and women."
Referring to the remarks, Sivan said "We will be very happy to do that, but it involves training and other things."