NEW DELHI: The country’s first analog space mission has taken off at Leh in Ladakh, where space agency Isro will simulate life in an interplanetary habitat as India is planning to send a human to the Moon in the near future.
Analog space missions are field tests in locations on Earth that have physical similarities to the extreme space environments and play a significant role in problem solving for spaceflight research. Ladakh has been chosen for such a mission as the geographical features of the area — dry and cold climate, barren land, high-altitude terrain and extreme isolation — are considered to closely resemble Martian and lunar landscapes, and are an ideal training ground for scientific missions aimed at exploring planets.
“India’s first analog space mission kicks off in Leh! A collaborative effort by Human Spaceflight Centre, ISRO, AAKA Space Studio, University of Ladakh, IIT Bombay, and supported by Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, this mission will simulate life in an interplanetary habitat to tackle the challenges of a base station beyond Earth,” Isro posted on X on Friday.
The month-long mission, which kicked off mid-Oct, comes in the wake of India’s plans to set up lunar habitats, which could provide a base to launch interplanetary missions. The mission includes a compact, inflatable habitat named Hab-1, which is equipped with essentials like a hydroponics farm, kitchen, and sanitation facilities. It provides a self-sustaining environment, offering valuable data as India is planning long-duration space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Lying at an elevation over 3,000 metres above sea level, Ladakh has oxygen levels only 40% of those at sea level. The low-pressure, low-oxygen setting allows researchers to evaluate life support systems under conditions similar to those on Mars. The team of AAKA Space Studio is therefore testing environment suits and conducting geological studies in Leh.
Currently, scores of analog missions are being organised by space agencies as well as private entities and researchers. Some of the prominent ones are Nasa’s Analog Missions Project and Analog Astronaut Training Center. The Nasa project is managed by Johnson Space Center and includes four funded analog missions: Research and Technology Studies (RATS), Nasa’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), and International Space Station (ISS) Test bed for Analog Research (ISTAR). Analog Astronaut Training Center (AATC) in Poland has two full-isolation research laboratories and an analog astronaut training program. AATC, which has organised 75 analog simulations till the end of 2023, specialises in human physiology research and operational training for scientists, engineers, and astronaut candidates.