Indian Astronaut-designate Requests Startups to Develop Space Toilet for Gaganyaan Mission

Astronaut-designate Group Captain Prashant Nair, who is being trained for the Gaganyaan mission along with Grp Capt Shubhanshu Shukla, has requested Indian startups "to make space toilet" as the world needs more research on that front. Speaking at the DefSpace symposium here on Friday, Nair, nicknamed 'Papa', said, "Russia is the only country in the world that has an effective space toilet in place. Even Americans had to depend on Russian technology on the International Space Station." For years, the US segment of the ISS relied on Russian-designed and built toilet systems. Noticeably, Nasa's Artemis II manned mission to Moon, Orion spacecraft's universal waste management system (toilet) malfunctioned shortly after the launch this month. On having any feeling of anxiety as Gaganyaan is India's first manned mission to space, Group Captain Nair, an experienced IAF pilot-turned-astronaut, said, "I love danger. When I flew Sukhois, I used to fly at max height and think 'can I fly even higher'. Now, I am getting an opportunity to be part of Gaganyaan and go to space. I want to feel eternal peace in space. We are star material and we will be part of it one day. So, why fear?" Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of the event, Group Captain Nair said, "The first manned mission with a humanoid (Vyommitra) is expected this year itself. Our manned mission is expected by 2026-end or in 2027." When asked about any special training to avoid collision with space debris, he said, "It will certainly be part of the mission. Currently, we have not got the details in Isro. Earlier for the Axiom mission preparation, Shux (Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla) and I were trained by Nasa how to manoeuvre the spaceship away from space debris." "Shux shared his interesting experience on the ISS mission with us," Nair told TOI. At the symposium, Group Captain Shukla said, "Earlier, the world was not taking us seriously. But when we launched three Chandrayaan missions and landed on the south pole side of the Moon, the world started taking us seriously. Now, the surprise element is gone. Countries want to join our Gaganyaan programme. Being a manned mission, world expectations have also increased from Gaganyaan, so is our responsibilities. So, lots of things have to be done as this is India's first mission." Shukla said, "Isro has developed a lot of key technologies indigenously for the mission and we have full trust on our scientists for this mission".