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According to the US State Department, Indian and US space officials met in Washington for two days to discuss human space exploration.
The eighth meeting of the US-India Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG) was held on Monday and Tuesday, and discussions included collaboration in earth and space science, global navigation satellite systems, spaceflight safety and situational awareness, and commercial space policies, according to the Department.
The meeting was co-chaired by Jennifer R. Littlejohn, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and Karen Feldstein, Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), on the US side, and Shantanu Bhatawdekar, Scientific Secretary of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on the Indian side.
The Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, scheduled for next year, is a highlight of NASA-ISRO collaboration.
It is planned to map the Earth systematically, using two different radar frequencies to monitor resources such as water, forests, and agriculture.
It will provide data on ecosystems, the earth’s surface, natural hazards, sea level rise, and the cryosphere, as well as information on the frozen parts of the earth, with applications in forestry, agriculture, and ecology.
According to NASA, it will also aid in the rapid response to natural and man-made disasters.
The meeting was opened by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and National Space Council Executive Secretary Chirag Parikh, and ISRO Chairman S. Somanath and Taranjit Singh Sandhu spoke.
Details of the discussion on cooperation in human space exploration were not released.
While astronauts from several countries, including Saudi Arabia, have flown on NASA space missions, none from India, which plans to launch a manned space expedition on board the Gaganyaan spacecraft as early as next year.
Under an agreement with Glavkosmos, four Air Force fighter pilots have been trained in Russia for the mission.
Rakesh Sharma, a former Air Force officer who flew on a Soviet Soyuz mission in 1984, is the only Indian citizen who has been in space.
Four Indian Americans, however, have served on space missions.
Kalpana Chawla, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, Sunita Williams, and Raja Chari were among those who flew on NASA missions.
Sirisha Bandla took a brief private sector Virgin Galactic test flight in 2021.
Source:OCN
