Space department, University in Moscow, Russia

"We have started working on our third lunar mission to land an unmanned spacecraft near the moon's south pole. The project work has gained momentum to launch the lander and rover by early 2021," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan said at a space event here.On January 1, Sivan told the media here that the government had approved the ambitious mission for soft-landing of a spacecraft and a rover near the moon's south pole in the later part of 2020 or early 2021.India's maiden attempt to soft-land at the designated spot on the moon failed on September 7, 2019, when Chandrayaan-2's Vikram spacecraft crash-landed due to a velocity glitch."As Chandrayaan-3 will have only a lander and rover, the lunar spacecraft will cost Rs 610 crore, including Rs 360 crore for the launch rocket," said Sivan on the margins of a symposium on "Human Spaceflight and Exploration - Present Challenges and Future Trends".The space agency spent Rs 960 crore on the Chandrayaan-2 mission, whose Orbiter is circling around the moon at about 100 km from the lunar surface in an elliptical motion since August 20 last.On India's maiden manned mission 'Gaganyaan', Sivan said that four Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots selected with three of them as crew would soon visit Russia for training."Gaganyaan will be a historic mission for the country as three Indian astronauts will fly in a space module designed and developed indigenously," asserted Sivan, a rocket specialist.Former IAF Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to fly in space onboard the Russian Soyuz-11 mission on April 2, 1984.On return from Russia, the IAF quartet will undergo module-specific training at the space agency's human space flight centre in this tech city where critical technologies for space missions are being developed."The four pilots will be trained in our crew and service module to operate it for simulations. Three of them will be finally selected for the 7-day space mission in the earth's lower orbit," Sivan said.Asserting that the manned mission was not a one-off feat or exercise to send a human being into space, the ISRO Chairman said: "Gaganyaan is not just about sending a man into space but creating opportunities for national and overseas collaborations with other space-faring nations."Scientific discoveries, economic development, education, technology development and inspiring youths are the common goals for all nations. Human space flight programme provides an ideal platform to meet such objectives."( With inputs from IANS )

Space DepartmentFOLLOW

Space department, Latest News

Several journalists were wounded during the Syrian government's military operation against the Jabhat al-Nusra group in the al-Qarasi region in the vicinity of Aleppo. ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted pardon to Naama Issachar, an American-Israeli woman, jailed in Russia on drug trafficking charges, the Kremlin said in a statement. ...

As this year marks the 175th birth anniversary of Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbaiuly, the country's president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has shared his thoughts about the relevance of the philosopher's ideas and thinkings in the modern world and what people sho ...

In a hard-fought match, world number 1 Rafael Nadal on Monday secured a win over Australia's Nick Kyrgios at Rod Laver Arena to book his spot in the quarterfinals of Australian Open. ...

More champions tumbled out of the women's draw on Day 6 of the Australian Open on Saturday. This time it was current World No. 2 Karolina Pliskova along with top ten seeds, Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina. ...

Eminent scholars from India and Russia participated in the first Ganga-Volga Dialogue of Civilizations earlier this week here, wherein they deliberated upon the existing and emerging spheres of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the Min ...

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will showcase its achievement of how it empowered India in 2019 by carrying out country's first anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test Mission Shakti in Republic Day Parade. It will be a part of t ...

In its second attempt to soft-land on the moon, India began working on its third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 which is scheduled for launch in early 2021, a top space official said on Wednesday. ...