BENGALURU: As part of preparations for India’s first manned space mission, Gaganyaan, scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of 2027, Indian astronauts – called Gaganyatris – were subjected to Mapping of Interoperable Traits and Response Assessment (MITRA) training to prepare them for the psychological aspects of space missions. MITRA was the first of its kind team behavioural study in India, designed by ISRO and Bengaluru-based Institute of Aerospace Medicine. The Gaganyatris – Group Captains Angad Pratap Singh, Shubhanshu Shukla, Prashanth Nair and Ajit Krishnan – along with scientists and researchers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), underwent MITRA mission training in Leh, Ladakh, from April 2 to 9 at an altitude of around 3,500 metres, and were familiarised with conditions like hypoxia, low temperatures, claustrophobia and isolation.
Singh said the training helped understand not just one’s own behaviour but also that of the crew mates, besides contributing to team and relationship building – crucial in space missions to be more accommodative and a better team person. He said MITRA was similar to the training offered in other countries, but differed in environments created, like in European Space Agencies’ Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising Human Behaviour and Performance Skills, which brings in people from 22–26 countries, each hailing from a different cultural and professional background.
“We have to see what our requirements and expectations are from the human space experiments that we are doing and what the human resources and funds we can allocate today for it. We need to have a credible human space transportation system –the Gaganyaan mission – and then a credible space habitat – the Bhartiya Antriksh Station. A microgravity laboratory for conducting experiments is of the highest order. So, the end goal is to go and perform science experiments, and for that there is a need for enablers like Gaganyaan, docking systems and others. And once you have mastered all of these, then it is like LEGO,” he said.