First manned space mission will be launched in 2022: Isro chief
Sivan was awarded the HK Firodia Vidyan Ratna Puraskar for his work in the field of space research
We aim to launch the first unmanned space flight by the end of 2020 and the first manned space mission will be launched prior to 75th Independence Day in 2022,” said K Sivan, chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
Sivan was the HK Firodia Awards for Excellence in Science and Technology, held on Friday at Bal Gandharva Rangmandir in Pune.
“Four astronauts have been short-listed for the Gaganyaan mission who will go to Russia for 15 months training. The astronauts from the Indian Air Force were identified after months of rigorous medical check-ups. A series of tests pertaining to the design and engineering of the mission systems have been planned in 2020,” he further added.
Sivan was awarded the HK Firodia Vidyan Ratna Puraskar for his work in the field of space research. Shekhar Mande, director, council of scientific and industrial research (CSIR) was awarded the HK Firodia Vidyan Bhushan Puraskar for his exemplary work in the field of science and technology.
“This award will always be special to me as it recognises my efforts to make India a self-reliable nation; this coincides with Isro’s idea, which is to be self-reliable in space technology. I thank HK Firodiya Foundation for giving me the honour to receive this award. It is not my sole efforts that has brought me here, to this position, hence, I thank my family, my Isro colleagues and all those who supported me in my career. Today, we have realised fully the vision of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, as we are taking up extremely challenging space missions like Mission Mangal and Chndrayaan Mission,” said Sivan.
The selection committee for the awards comprised scientist Raghunath Mashelkar and Arun Firodia, chairman of Kinetic group.
Vijay Raghvan, principal scientific adviser to the government was the chief guest for the event. However, he was not present due to an emergency and congratulated the awardees via a video message, which he sent from New Delhi.
Mande who gave a presentation about his work on Tuberculosis (TB) in his speech said, “TB is a perfectly treatable disease and the strategy to control it, is by prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Under prevention, vaccination and wellness is required; for diagnosis early detection is needed and treatment is done through chemotherapeutic methods,” he said.