Imran's minister tweets to announce Pak will send first astronaut to space in 2022; replies to his tweet are hilarious
Pakistan on Thursday announced that it will send its first astronaut to space in 2022 using close ally China's satellite launch facilities.
Pakistan on Thursday announced that it will send its first astronaut to space in 2022 using close ally China's satellite launch facilities.
Pakistan's decision came as India on Monday successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2.
Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Science and Technology, said the selection process of the astronaut for the space mission would start from February 2020.
The announcement was made by Chaudhry in a Twitter post. The minister was trolled heavily with memes and jokes after the announcement.
Here are some of the replies to his tweet that absolutely insane:
(With PTI inputs)
The announcement was made by Pakistan's Minister for Science & Technology, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, in a Twitter post.
"Proud to announce that selection process for the first Pakistani to be sent to Space shall begin from Feb 2020, fifty people will be shortlisted — list will then come down to 25 and in 2022 we will send our first person to space," Chaudhry said.
This will be the biggest space event of our history, he added.
Chaudhry said the Pakistani Air Force will play a lead role in the selection process of the astronaut for the space mission.
"The Air force will be the custodian of the selection process. Globally pilots are selected for space missions," he was quoted as saying by the Dawn News website.
He said that initially 50 pilots will be selected, from which the list will be brought down to 25 and then 10.
"Ten pilots will be trained and eventually one pilot will be sent to space," he said.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan does not have the capability to even launch a satellite into space on its own. Pakistan's National Space Agency SUPARCO (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission), which was established in 1961, launched its first communication satellite last later with help from a subsidiary of China Aerospace and Technology Corporation.
Pakistan used a Chinese launch vehicle to send two indigenously-built satellites into the orbit. The satellites were launched onboard the Chinese Long March (LM-2C) rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre located at the Gobi desert, China, The Express Tribune reported.
One of them was a remote sensing satellite (PRSS1) a dual-purpose Earth observational and optical satellite.
The second test satellite launched was a PAK-TES-1A to enhance satellite manufacture capabilities in the country.
This announcement by the minister of the Imran Khan government came as India on Monday successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 on July 22. India aims to launch Gaganyaan, its manned mission to space, by 2022.
In his Independence Day address last year, Prime Minister Modi had announced that the mission would be undertaken by 2022 using ISRO's own capabilities.
Gearing up for the mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has set up a Human Space Flight Centre to facilitate the manned voyage involving a three-member crew. It has also signed a contract with a Russian company for selection support, medical examination and space training of Indian astronauts for 'Gaganyaan' is set for December 2021 launch and is likely to include a woman astronaut, ISRO Chairman K Sivan had said earlier.
The initial training would be in the country but advanced training might be abroad, maybe in Russia, he said.
ISRO had in May signed an MoU with the Indian Air Force for cooperation in crew selection and training for the Gaganyaan Project.
The Union Cabinet gave its nod for the Rs 9,023 crore programme in 2018.
Last month, Sivan announced at a press conference India's plan to have its own space station. The Indian space station design will be modular with initial modules weighing nearly 20 tonnes. It will have a provision for extended stay for three crew members.