New Habitation? ISRO is Working To Make Igloos on the Moon, Says Minister

New Delhi: Beyond rockets and satellites, the Indian Space Research Organisation is now trying to create igloos on the moon.

Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh, replying to a question in the Parliament on Tuesday, said that ISRO, along with academic institutions, was doing experimentation on potential structures for lunar habitation.

The answer was in response to a question on whether ISRO had started working on building igloo-like habitats on the lunar surface for potential future missions and is it planning to use the moon as an outpost, like missions in Antarctica.

“The study is more towards futuristic developments,” Singh said. The statement comes just a month after ISRO announced that it was aiming to build on its capability to research on astronomy and astrophysics by launching the second space observatory, AstroSat-2.

In an announcement made by ISRO on February 3, the government-run space agency solicited proposals from institutions which are currently involved in astronomy or astrophysics.

ISRO sought these proposals for the development of scientific instruments for the payload of the mission.

Space observatories hold advantage over those based on earth by minimising disturbance factors caused by lightning, electromagnetic radiation distortion and such. Through the space observatory, ISRO will be able to observe distant planets, galaxies and other such astronomical objects more clearly.