ISRO to send Manned mission to Moon: Scientist

Sriharikota, Oct 7(UNI) ISRO has begun the work on its next Rs 10,000 crore ambitious project the ''manned mission'' which will witness an Indian transported to space, Chandradathan, Director of Sathish Dhavan Space Centre said here today.

Speaking to the group of newspersons, who visited the country's Spaceport on this Island on the shore of Bay of Bengal to witness the pre-count-down operations of the ambitious 'Chandrayan-I' mission, Dr Chandradathan said ''We have the plan and have started the work and waiting for the Government's nod. The Space Commission has given its permission''.

For the manned mission, he said the ISRO would need to build the third launch pad in Sriharihota. ''In the next seven years we might be able to achieve this mission''. ''The crew training facility now available only with Indian Air Force, we have some expertise and we will build on this'' he said. The mission would need building of a human capsule putting in place safely and security of crew will be important, he added.

The Director said the launch of Chandrayan-I on a PSLV-C 11 launch vehicle had been fixed tentatively on October 22nd. The spacecraft would reach the moon orbit on November Eight. The 1000-strong team of scientists across the country working on the Moon mission were exited and thrilled and working 24-7 to make this project successful.

Asked about the safety of the Spacecraft the General Manager Safety SHAR V Krishnamurthy said all safety aspects had been addressed and whatever recommendations made by Narayana Committee following the failure of INSAT-4C had been addressed.

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