Soyuz Re Design for its Manned Space Mission - ISRO 2008
After the historic moon mission, India will redesign Russian space capsule Soyuz to send its astronauts on the country's maiden manned space mission.
"We will be redesigning the Soyuz space capsule of the Russian agency for our mission," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI.
ISRO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Russian space agency Roskosmos on Joint Activities in the Field of Human Spaceflight Programme during the recent visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev here.
Under the MoU signed by Nair and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Perminov, space scientists from the two countries will jointly build the spacecraft for India's manned mission.
The Soyuz, which has been in use since 1967, has been upgraded several times and has recently brought back American astronauts from the International Space Station.
The Soyuz TM is a modernised version of the Soyuz T with a new docking and rendezvous, radio communications, emergency and integrated parachute/landing engine systems. It has a more durable metal body and lighter heat shield material.
It serves as both a ferry for Russian crews coming to and from the space station as well as a "lifeboat" for any emergency escapes.
Government has already sanctioned Rs 95 crore to study all aspects of the manned space mission under which ISRO plans to send a two-member crew on a week-long sojourn in space.
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