Today, Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma and NASA administrator Bill Nelson will visit ISRO to view the low-Earth orbit observatory NISAR.
Nelson is scheduled to visit the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru, where testing is being done on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite in preparation for its 2024 launch.
The head of NASA, who is currently visiting India, spoke with students at Bengaluru’s Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum (VITM) on Wednesday.
NASA Administrator also noted how the upcoming joint NISAR mission, scheduled for launch in 2024 is just one example of how the US and India’s partnership in space is helping people on Earth. Data from NISAR will help people worldwide better manage natural resources and hazards, as well as provide information for scientists to better understand the effects and pace of climate change.
Nelson announced that the US will help train and send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, ISRO chief S Somanath said, “It’s an announcement based on our PM and President of the US meeting and this idea was mooted. We are taking it forward; that’s what the NASA chief said–that Indian astronauts will be flying to the international space station in an American weight. The whole programme should be done in a manner that benefits us. We want our astronauts to be trained at US facilities.”