India’s first space simulation project is in full swing after ISRO tested Hab-1, egg-shaped space pod, which could serve as future home of India’s astronauts. This comes in the wake of ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission set for 2025, which plans to put astronauts into orbit for three days, 248 miles up.
With plans to prepare astronauts for real space missions, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently tested Hab-1 for three weeks in the high Himalayan mountains of Ladakh. According to experts, Ladakh’s “rocky, barren landscape and soil have similarities with the material and rocks found on Mars and some parts of the lunar terrain which make it ideal for space research,” BBC reported.
Space pod Hab-1 elements
Hab-1 includes a fold-away bed, which can be pulled out and used as a workstation, the news outlet said. Among other surprising elements that are a part of Hab-1, is a mini-kitchen for heating meals and a toilet, apart from storage space to keep supplies and emergency kits. During the simulation period, an astronaut spent three weeks living in it. Meanwhile, NASA is training two of the four Indian astronauts involved in the mission.
“Hab-1 is designed keeping in mind that space is going to be very limited on the Moon or Mars… The astronaut will also have very limited water so we designed a dry toilet,” BBC quoted Aaka company’s space architect Aastha Kacha-Jhala as saying.
Aastha further noted that the designers of the space pod have put in place a system for a proper disposal of waste and ensured that the habitat remains odour-free. This marks a road step to set up India’s first space station by 2035 and send a human to the Moon by 2040.
‘Every move was scheduled’: ISRO’s test astronaut
Giving an account of how the test mission went, the test astronaut said that everything was scheduled, from time to wake up to when to sleep. A 24×7 camera monitored every move and sent data about my activities and health,” the 24-year-old said, who was isolated from the human environment for 21 days and spent this time in the capsule.
