INDIA’s space programme has readied itself for another leap -- of faith as well as confidence -- into space by announcing the names of four astronauts for the Gaganyaan human space flight mission. Group Captains Prashanth Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla will script history when they take the ride on space mission Gaganyaan some time later. As a complement of this major project, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi also announced three infrastructure projects -- a Trisonic Wind Tunnel at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, a Semi-Cryogenic Integrated Engine and Stage Test Facility at ISRO’s Propulsion complex at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu, and the PSLV Integration Facility at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharilota in Andhra Pradesh. Cumulatively, the value of these projects in one go is exponentially higher than their worth in money. All those will add a tremendously gloriously golden tinge to the pride Indians feel for their country and themselves. By now, the story of India’s success in its space programme is a part of an international lore. Even as countries like the United States are relaunching human space flight programmes of their own with focus on landing on different astral landscapes, India is proving to the world that it is not lagging behind.

 

True, India will have to take bigger strides to come level with countries such as US or Russia or China, there is every reason to believe that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be able to cover the lag in good time. This is not because India has placed limitless resources at ISRO’s disposal, but because the culture the space agency has developed -- of frugality of resource-usage and attainability of high goals. The story of India’s space programme, thus, is one of passionate patriotism that underlines the importance of every rupee spent on the space programme and making it go farther in its journey. That was why Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi had said proudly that India’s mission to Moon was made possible in a budget that was smaller than the budget of a block-buster Hollywood film. This speaks for the work-culture and scientific thought-process ISRO has been able to weave into its organisational spread. The manned space mission, thus, will highlight all these dimensions in entirety. Of course, putting man in space is not an easy adventure. Its complexity is immense and beyond normal definitions. When a human being is present on board a space flight, every dimension changes since what is involved in not just the life of an individual but also the nation’s larger commitment to finer scientific goals.

 

ISRO is entering that phase in its glorious history, interspersed as it was with many successes and a few (educationally-rich) failures, when it will hobnob with the best -- and the most difficult -- challenges in its onward journey. The nation will keep its fingers crossed when the manned Gaganyaan mission gets underway. That anxious curiosity will propel India’s collective space ambition to newer height as the four astronauts will start their deep-space endeavour and lead the nation into the next generation space science. True, humans have been to space on many occasions until now. Thus, in a way, the Indian endeavour will have nothing new to offer. Yet, the manner of achievement will make ISRO stand out because of the uniqueness of its work-culture where high premium is placed on human excellence without any compromise on any issue or dimension. Every body in India will hope and pray for the success of the manned space flight by ISRO. This goodwill will be the actual power behind India’s new leap into space.