Mission Gaganyaan: Special 'Desi' meals formulated for Indian astronauts' planned mission

The Defence Food Research Laboratory in Mysore have prepared special food packets for astronauts taking part in India's upcoming manned space mission, Gaganyaan. They'll also have a food heater and special containers have been created to help astronauts drink liquids in zero gravity. The food items include some lip-smacking south Indian delicacies such as Idli-sambhar, upma, coconut chutney and much more.

Desi food delicacies Upma, Idlis and Moong dal halwa to be part of astronauts' meals in space

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Earlier on January 1, the Indian Space Research Organisation held its first press briefing for the year and informed the media about the work undertaken by the space organisation in 2019 and its aims and objectives for the year ahead in 2020. During the address to the media, ISRO Chairman K Sivan spoke about the organisation's mort ambitious and India's very first Human Spaceflight Programme Gaganyaan. Sivan stated that the year ahead was going to be eventful for ISRO as the organisation will test the Gaganyaan.

"4 people have been selected from the Indian Air force to go onboard Gaganyaan and will be sent to Russia for training," Sivan stated while talking about the 4 astronauts of the mission. Informing about the status of India's first manned mission to space, ISRO Chief said, " Gaganyaan needs to be tested before flight. Right from the test vehicle, airdrop tests are required. All of these activities will be done this year along with the crew training."

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About Gaganyaan

Gaganyaan is ISRO's first crewed space mission with a deadline of 2021, set by PM Modi during his Independence Day speech on August 15. ISRO aims to send a 3-member crew to orbit and safely return to the Earth after a mission duration of up to seven days by 2021. With Gaganyaan India can be the fourth country to send a manned mission to space after Russia (then USSR), the US and China.

Before sending a crew into space, ISRO plans to send two unmanned missions into the orbit - first one in 2020 and the second one in 2021. The entire mission is estimated to approximately cost about Rs 10,000 crore. Gaganyaan was first conceptualized in 2004.

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