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India is going to launch country's first manned moon mission by 2020 after the grand success of Chandrayaan -I and Mars Mission. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this target from the rampart of the Red Fort during the celebration of Independence Day. He said that a son or daughter will go to space with tri-colour National Flag in their hand when India completes 75 years of independence.
The Chairman of Indian Space research Organisation (ISRO), Kailasavadivoo Sivan, also confirmed the initiative and timeline. He said that the pilots and crew , also called Vyomanauts , derived from the Sanskrit word Vyom that means Space , would spend at least 7 days in the space. "PM has give the target 2022, Its our duty to fulfill it", Mr. Sivam said.
Many technologies like escape system and crew module has already been tested and the project has been on the way.
It would cost nearly less than £1.1bn. Its proposed name is Vikram which has been coined from the name of Vikram Sarabhai, who had huge contribution in the devolopment of Indian Space Research.
If it is successful , India would be the fourth country to conduct manned moon mission after US, China and Russia.
Rakesh Sharma, the former air force pilot, was the first Indian to go to space in 1984 as part of a Soviet mission. Later, several astronauts of Indian origin have been part of Nasa missions in USA including Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams. Kalpana Chawla died in the year 2003 due to Columbia space shuttle explosion.
