BY : Express Network

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants to send not one but two persons on its first manned mission, in a completely indigenous space capsule.

The mission will cost Rs 10,000 crore, and ISRO wants it done by 2015.Why? China and USA are planning to land a man on the Moon by 2018, a top ISRO source told this website's newspaper. We can't afford to lag behind.

ISRO gave the government its report on the mission last week, and it has been accessed exclusively by this website newspaper. ISRO plans to build a space capsule to sustain a crew for a week. The first mission, however, will spend 36 hours in orbit.

Three capsules will be fabricated for the manned mission, two of which will be on standby, and will be used on future missions. The capsule will feature an escape mechanism. This insulates the crew from safety concerns, a source said.

The report says the capsule's reliability has been proven during pre-project activity: Its radiation shield and other features conform to the theoretical demands of living in space. It also has enough protection to absorb the shock of a freak collision with a meteor or space debris, says the source.

ISRO, though, needs additional facilities. We need several sophisticated laboratories to fabricate and test crucial components, said the source. More research is needed on aspects like psychological and physiological challenges to the crew.

ISRO has already decided to be involved in Air Force pilot recruitment for potential space travelers; it will also use IAF facilities for component testing.

ISRO's report has not, however, assigned a name to the mission, or to what a space traveler would be called. We'll conduct a naming ceremony once the government clears the report, says the source, in countdown mode.