The India-Russia joint manned space mission, slated for sometime in 2013 is expected to carry ISRO scientific personnel on board the spacecraft. This will be different from the historic 1984 flight when Indian Air Force squadron leader Rakesh Sharma made it to space on board the Soyuz T-11.

 

ISRO sources said that very likely a civilian scientist, or an engineer, will be part of the mission. This joint mission in 2013 will precede the launch of an Indian manned space mission from Sriharikota sometime in the period 2014-15.

 

There is also an historical precedence to civilian participation with two ISRO scientists, P Radhakrishnan and NC Bhatt, being selected for a space shuttle mission in the 1980s. The space shuttle Challenger disaster on 28 January 1986 put paid to the project. The mission was intended to place an INSAT satellite in orbit.

 

The prospects of likely Indian cosmonauts who will likely make it to space in 2013 is now being discussed in the backdrop of a memorandum of understanding related to the project being signed in New Delhi last week during the visit of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

 

ISRO officials said that the person chosen for this mission will undergo training at Star City near Moscow. The advantage of this flight is that it will give them an exposure to various aspects of launching a human space flight, including the critical training aspects.