Humanoid Skull for Gaganyaan Mission

Current Context : The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) uncrewed Gaganyaan mission in 2025 will carry the female half humanoid Vyomitra (literally “space friend”).

• The design for Vyomitra’s skull, fashioned by ISRO’s Inertial Systems Unit in the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• The humanoid skull model has dimensions of 200mm x 200mm, and weighs only 800 grams.
• Robotic systems are used to assist astronauts in performing repetitive and/or dangerous tasks in space, like cleaning of solar panels or fixing faulty equipment located outside the spacecraft.
• This protects astronauts, and allows them to work on the scientific mission at hand.

WHAT ARE HUMANOIDS?

• Humanoids (or half-humanoids) are robotic systems designed to resemble humans.
• Vyomitra comes with movable arms, a torso, a face, and a neck and function autonomously in space.