ISRO is "extremely busy" with a number of exploratory missions in the works. Chairman

Aside from the first human spaceflight programme, ISRO has a number of exploration missions planned, including trips to Mars, Venus, and the Moon once more, according to Chairman S Somanath.

The head of the space agency told reporters on Sunday that the agency has also planned to launch missions to research Earth's climate and weather patterns.

Moreover, Somanath, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, stated here that ISRO is also focusing on routine scientific missions such as communication and remote sensing satellites.

In reference to the Gaganyaan programme, he stated that the first TV-D1 test flight is planned for October 21.

He explained the planned missions being carried out by the space agency with its Bangalore headquarters, saying, "We have exploratory missions. We have plans to visit Mars, Venus, and the Moon once more in the future. We also offer programmes that examine Earth's climate and weather. He emphasised that ISRO scientists would be focused on carrying out routine missions like launching satellites for communications and remote sensing, but added that there are also scientific missions planned to look at topics like aeronomy, thermal imaging, and assessing the effects of climate change.

We are quite busy with all of this since there are so many things to accomplish, he remarked.

In response to a question about whether scientists were able to get any feedback from the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's Vikram lander, which made a successful soft landing on the surface of the Moon on August 23, he said Vikram had performed admirably during the lunar day (equivalent to 14 Earth days) during which it was programmed to carry out its duties.

"It is sleeping peacefully on the Moon." It has done an excellent job. Allow it to wake awake if it so desires. "We'll wait until then," he said. ISRO made efforts to re-establish connection with rover Pragyan and lander Vikram after they were put into sleep mode in September after the Moon's nighttime began.

"There have been no signals from them." ISRO stated that "efforts to establish contact will continue."

Following the historic landing on August 23, lander Vikram and rover Pragyan carried out a variety of duties on the lunar surface, including detecting sulphur and monitoring relative temperature.

Concerning ISRO's first mission to study the Sun, Somanath stated that the spacecraft is'very healthy' and is on a 110-day voyage to the Lagrange point L1, where it is projected to arrive by "middle of January." "It's going to be a long journey." It has been nearly 110 days and has traveled considerable distance. We adjusted a little portion of its trajectory because reaching the L1 point requires early adjustment. "After tracking, we discovered that it is heading in the right direction towards the L1 point," he explained.

Somanath, observing the rocket's 'complicated voyage,' stated, "It takes nearly another 70-75 days to reach." It will get there by the middle of January. Following that, we will make certain adjustments to let it to reach the Halo orbit at the L1 point." "After that, the instruments will be turned on and the scientific data streaming will begin." "Right now, everything on Aditya L1 is very healthy," he said.

Aditya-L1 was launched on September 2, and it is the first Indian space-based observatory to study the Sun from a halo orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), which is approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

Earlier, Somanath paid a visit to the home of renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, who died on September 28. He met the family members of a famous plant geneticist known as the driving force behind India's 'Green Revolution' in the city.

"I am here today only to express my gratitude and affection for his (M S Swaminathan's) contribution... "Whoever works in whatever field, whether it's space, agriculture, or sustainability, or many other domains, we all find a way to collaborate," he remarked.

"I sincerely appreciate the chance, thank you. More young people in the nation will be motivated to pursue careers in science and technology thanks to his (M S Swaminathan's) legacy. Added Somanath.