ISRO considering manned space mission

India's space agency is seriously considering a manned mission to space, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation G Madhavan Nair said in Bhopal on Thursday.

"We are seriously considering a manned space mission. But we will have to study new technologies to develop capsules, which will send men to space and bring them back safely," said Nair.

ISRO plans to complete its report on new technologies within a year and send it to the government for approval, he said.

He added that a mission to Mars was at a conceptual stage and a project to send a satellite to the red planet is under consideration.

ISRO's unmanned mission to the moon will be launched in 2008.

Nair is the chairman of the organising committee of the Bhartiya Vigyan Sammelan, which will be held in Bhopal from November 23 to 25. Over 3,000 delegates are expected to attend the conference.

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

Nair said these centres will provide information on natural resources. They will also offer interactive advisories on agriculture, fisheries, land and water resources management, e-governance and the weather.

Speaking about the need to develop a scientific temperament among the youth, Nair said, "The service industry is important as it gives good remunerations. But if science is forgotten, it will spell doom for us in the future."

Nair advocated a course on basic science for all youngsters, who should be motivated to take up research to help the common man.

He pointed out that over 700 million people in rural areas face problems like lack of drinking water and proper sanitation. To solve such problems, science should be taken to the grassroots level, he said.