Meet Vyommitra, The Humanoid That ISRO Will Send To Space

The Indian Space Research Organization has released the first glimpse of the humanoid, which is part of the first human spaceflight program (Gaganyaan). ISRO hopes to send the humanoid before finally sending humans in the year 2022. The humanoid is a woman and has been named Vyommitra.

Some takeaways:

• Vyommitra is a half humanoid that can perform multiple tasks. One of her abilities is to speak two languages.
• Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft. Gaganyaan aims to send three astronauts to space for a minimum of seven days by 2022, as part of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
• India picked 12 IAF test pilots in the first week of September 2019. These pilots cleared level 1 screening of the Gaganyaan program.

About Vyommitra

Vyommitra is a half humanoid that can perform multiple tasks. One of her abilities is to speak two languages. K Sivan, Chairman of ISRO told the Times of India "The humanoid is almost ready.” He further added, "We want to make sure that this mission serves a purpose beyond displaying our ability to send humans and bring them back safely." He also said, "Our robot will be like a human and be able to do whatever a man can do, although not as extensively as human."

About Gaganyaan Programme

Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft. The mission Gaganyaan aims to send three astronauts to space for a minimum of seven days by 2022, as part of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. ISRO developed the spacecraft which consists of a service model and crew model, also known as an orbital module. Gaganyaan is the first manned mission of India. After this mission, India will become the fourth country to send a manned flight to space. USSR,  USA, and China are three countries that have already sent manned flights into space. Denmark is scheduled to send a manned flight into space in 2022.

Astronauts for Gaganyaan Programme

ISRO is planning to fly the humanoid in the unmanned flights before the final human spaceflight. The final four astronauts-elects for the Gaganyaan Mission will begin training in Russia. India picked 12 IAF test pilots in the first week of September 2019. These pilots cleared level 1 screening of the Gaganyaan program. These 12 astronauts were selected from 60 candidates by The Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) under IAF.

Read also: Pakistani Astronaut Namira Salim Congratulates ISRO On Chandrayaan 2

"Many systems will need to be tested before the unmanned flight planned for this year, which we are planning for this year and among them will be the air-drop tests on crew escape module and we will also begin the crew training."

ISRO has completed most of the design work of Gaganyaan. However, ISRO still plans to conduct several tests this year. Sivan told TOI on January 1, 2020 “Many systems will need to be tested before the unmanned flight planned for this year, which we are planning for this year and among them will be the air-drop tests on crew escape module and we will also begin the crew training." ISRO improved its propulsion systems and the crew escape module. ISRO has also made progress in its overall human rating system.

Image credit- Times of India

Read also: ISRO Pitches For Woman Astronaut In First Manned Space Mission

Mansi is an Intern at SheThePeople.TV