ISRO Astronauts to Receive NASA Training for 2024 ISS Mission to Advance Indian Space Exploration
NASA has taken a major step towards global cooperation in space exploration by revealing its participation in the training of two Indian astronauts. One of them is set to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) for a week-long mission in late 2024. This announcement was made by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during his current tour of various cities in India, where he is working to strengthen the collaborative endeavors between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), engaging with political leaders and officials.
A joint effort towards the ISS
The partnership between NASA and ISRO extends beyond this upcoming mission to include joint initiatives in planetary defense and collaborative activities related to the ISS. Both agencies had previously committed to working together on future space projects and reaffirmed their commitment to advancing scientific research.
At a meeting in New Delhi this week, Bill Nelson congratulated Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, praising India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which made a historic touchdown near the South Pole of the Moon a few months ago. NASA is now eagerly awaiting ISRO’s approval to begin training the selected astronauts.
Speaking to NDTV, Nelson shared the timeline of the ambitious project, stating, “A year from now, at the end of 2024, an Indian astronaut would go to the space station, probably for two weeks. During this mission, they will be doing very important scientific experiments for India.”
Earlier, Nelson also met Rakesh Sharma, the pioneering astronaut who became the first Indian citizen to travel into low Earth orbit in 1984 during a week-long trip to the Soviet Union’s Salyut 7 space station. Looking ahead, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath revealed plans to shortlist four astronauts for its next space venture, with all four receiving training abroad and two candidates receiving training at NASA.
While details remain unclear on whether astronauts will also be trained for the moon landing missions that India aims to achieve by 2040, the spirit of collaboration between NASA and ISRO continues to flourish. Both agencies are scheduled to jointly launch the NISAR earth observation satellite early next year, reinforcing the importance of the partnership in advancing space exploration.
“It’s important that we do this as partners,” Nelson said, emphasizing the importance of international collaboration in pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery and space exploration.
