Shukla In house: Benefits far outweigh value, says Isro chief | India News

Caption: Isro chairman V Narayanan interacts with Nasa astronaut Raja Chari outdoors the Orion spacecraft mockup at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. | Credit: Nasa

For Isro, advantages and learnings from the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will far outweigh the price it has needed to incur in sending Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla (Shux).The Rs 548 crore spent on the mission is a fraction of what India would have in any other case wanted to spend on replicating the identical coaching, publicity and systems-level expertise, Isro chairman V Narayanan advised TOI, in his first unique interview concerning the multinational business mission.Speaking from Houston, Narayanan mentioned that the educational outcomes — spanning astronaut coaching (for 2 astronauts), mission operations, and hardware-software-human interface — can’t be measured purely in financial phrases. “For a country of 140 crore people, what we’ve spent is only marginal,,” Narayanan mentioned. For that, he mentioned: “We’ve gained access to infrastructure and experience that would otherwise require thousands of crores.” If one appears to be like on the per capita value on the Indian inhabitants, it provides as much as round Rs 4 per head.Look Beyond Rupee FigureNarayanan, dismissing observations that Ax-4 is “just a commercial mission”, mentioned discussions on such strategic missions should be rooted in long-term functionality constructing fairly than short-term monetary arithmetic.“For a programme like Gaganyaan, which spans Rs 20,000 crore including follow-on missions, these early investments are necessary. Training, confidence, exposure, systems understanding — these are foundational,” he mentioned.He added that maturity in public discourse is crucial. “People must recognise that not all benefits can be quantified. But they can certainly be measured in preparedness and capability,” he mentioned.Five TakeawaysNarayanan recognized 5 key areas the place Ax-4 will instantly strengthen India’s human spaceflight capabilities: Training publicity, confidence constructing, operational expertise, systems-and-process understanding, and cross-disciplinary studying.“Our astronauts trained in world-class facilities simulating space conditions, including microgravity and life-support systems. Each hour of training they’ve undergone would cost crores if we were to replicate the infrastructure ourselves,” he mentioned.He added that interacting with seasoned astronauts — together with those that have flown to house a number of instances or carried out a number of spacewalks — helped increase the arrogance of Indian crew members and mission groups.Astronauts — Shux and his backup Group Captain Prashant Nair — learnt methods to perform in house as a workforce, deal with real-time challenges, and perform experiments. He mentioned engaged on and observing the mission to ISS has given India insights into module design, format, onboard techniques, and processes that may feed into future Gaganyaan and house station designs.“We will, of course, have our own design and technology, but all this experience will help us develop those better,” he mentioned. Isro EngineersNarayanan, who’s main efforts to make sure astronaut security, mentioned he has himself gained from observing operations in Houston. “From data handling to high-level system safety discussions, our understanding of the end-to-end process has grown. This cannot be acquired by simulation or literature review alone,” he mentioned.He added that the expertise is equally useful for backroom mission groups and decision-makers, who will now have real-world references to attract upon whereas making ready for Gaganyaan. TOI had reported final week about some specifics the Isro workforce is studying again in Houston, the place mission management for Ax-4 is.Space StationIndia plans to construct its personal house station after the Gaganyaan crewed flights. Narayanan mentioned direct publicity to the ISS atmosphere will inform the design, configuration, and operational planning of the proposed Indian facility.“We had only studied the ISS on paper. Now we are seeing it in action. We may not adopt the same model, but this will help us make informed design choices,” he mentioned.