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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe Artemis II mission lifted off from Florida on April 2, carrying four astronauts on the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon in more than five decades. The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to reporters, Narayanan highlighted the historical importance of the mission, recalling that the first human landing on the Moon took place in 1969. He noted that Artemis II represents a renewed effort after 57 years to advance human space exploration, adding that the current mission is an orbital one, designed to circle the Moon before returning safely to Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ISRO chief also shared his personal experience of watching the launch live and recalled his earlier visit to the Canadian Space Agency, where he had the opportunity to see parts of the launch vehicle under construction. He praised the technological sophistication and engineering excellence behind the mission, calling it a remarkable achievement for the global scientific community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Describing the mission as a major milestone, Narayanan said it would play a crucial role in building momentum toward future crewed lunar landings. He expressed complete confidence in its success, stating that it is an important step for humanity\u2019s long-term ambitions in space exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turning to India\u2019s own human spaceflight programme, Narayanan spoke about the progress of Gaganyaan. He revealed that astronaut-designates, known as Gaganyatris, are currently undergoing high-altitude training in Ladakh as part of Mission \u201cMitra.\u201d The training, conducted at an altitude of around 4,000 metres, is aimed at preparing them for the challenges of space travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the programme is progressing steadily, with detailed preparations underway to ensure mission readiness. The training in Ladakh is a key component of the broader Gaganyatri training programme designed to equip astronauts with the physical and mental resilience required for space missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Narayanan also spoke about India\u2019s future space ambitions, indicating that several launches and missions are planned in the current financial year. He emphasised that ISRO is working diligently across multiple programmes to strengthen the country\u2019s presence in space exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highlighting the broader vision, he said that India\u2019s space initiatives are being carried out under the leadership of Narendra Modi, with a focus on achieving technological excellence and contributing to global advancements in space science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ISRO chief\u2019s remarks underline India\u2019s growing engagement with global space developments while continuing to push forward its own ambitious programmes in human spaceflight and lunar exploration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thiruvananthapuram, April 2026 : Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, V. Narayanan, on Saturday lauded the recent launch of NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission, describing it as a significant step forward in humanity\u2019s renewed journey to the Moon. He expressed strong confidence that the mission would be a major success and pave the way for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":113308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[80],"post_format":[],"flags":[],"class_list":["post-113305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india-news","tag-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113309,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113305\/revisions\/113309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/113308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113305"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_format&post=113305"},{"taxonomy":"flags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fflags&post=113305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}