ISRO considering manned space mission: Nair

BHOPAL: India's space agency is "seriously considering" a manned mission to space and will prepare a report on new capsule technologies that could be used in the project within a year, its Chairman G Madhavan Nair said on Thursday.

"We are seriously considering a manned space mission but will have to study newer technologies to develop capsules to send men to space and bring them back safely," Nair told a press conference here.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) expects to prepare a report on the new technologies within a year and send it to the government for approval, he said.

In response to a query, Nair said a mission to Mars was at a conceptual stage and ISRO was considering a project to send a satellite to the red planet.

ISRO's unmanned mission to the moon will be launched next year, he said.

The agency will soon start 12 village resources centres in Madhya Pradesh that will act as a single window delivery mechanism for a variety of space-based products and services like tele-medicine, tele-education and application of remote sensing data, he said.

The centres will provide information on natural resources for planning and development at the local level and offer interactive advisories on agriculture, fisheries, land and water resources management, e-governance and weather, he said.

Under another project, all schools in Sidhi have been connected through the Edusat satellite, enabling students to receive quality education and guidance from expert teachers, Nair said.

Giving details of a Bhartiya Vigyan Sammelan planned here from November 23 to 25, Nair, who is also the chairman of organising committee for the conference, said it would be an effort to bridge the gap between ancient and modern technologies and take science to the people.

Over 3,000 delegates are expected to attend the conference at which 800 contributory papers will be taken up, Nair said.

Apart from scientists, people possessing practical skills will demonstrate their achievements during the unique conference where papers and research contributions in Indian languages are encouraged, he said.

Earlier, at a function to announce plans for the Bhartiya Vigyan Sammelan organised by the MP Council for Science and Technology, Vijnana Bharati and Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwa Vidyalaya, Nair voiced the need for evolving scientific temper in the youth.

He said the "service industry is important as it gives good remunerations, but if science is forgotten, it will spell doom for us in coming years".

Nair advocated a course on basic science for all youths and said they should be motivated for taking up research to solve the problems of the common man.

Over 700 million people in rural areas face problems like the lack of drinking water and sanitation. Science should be taken to the grassroots level to solve such problems, he said.

Students passing out of institutes get job offers from foreign countries as soon as they submit their thesis, he said. The standard maintained by Indian educational institutes is reflected in the ISRO, where "100 per cent scientists have passed out from Indian institutions", he remarked.

A delegation of the conference's organising committee earlier met Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who assured them of full support in holding the event.

Chouhan asked the scientists to present science to common people like farmers in a simple manner so that they can utilise it to solve their problems.

He said the state government will seek the services of ISRO to strengthen its communication system and make better use of its natural resources.