With India’s first manned space mission in the offing, space medicine will be the thrust area for medical practitioners and researchers to work on, said G. Madhavan Nair, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Friday.
Delivering the keynote address at ‘Confluence 2019’, a national-level physiotherapy conference, organised by Laxmi Memorial College of Physiotherapy, Mr. Nair said, “It [space medicine] is going to be the new avenue for medical practitioners and researchers to work on.” It is also an opportunity for a number of medical research establishments to join hands.
He said the manned space mission involved the challenges of addressing the life support system, waste management, radiation shielding and safe return of the crew to Earth. “We are world leaders in the application of space technology for the benefit of the common man. The question is what next? Can we afford to watch others like the United States and Russia moving forward in planetary exploration?” he asked. He said planetary exploration would be the thrust area for the Indian space programme as well.
