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She is a female-looking spacefaring humanoid robot being
developed by the ISRO to function on-board the Gaganyaan, a
crewed orbital spacecraft. Vyommitra was first unveiled on 22
January 2020 at the Human Spaceflight and Exploration
symposium in Bengaluru. She is expected to go on two un-
crewed spaceflights, the first one scheduled for December 2020.
India aims not to fly animal’s onboard experimental missions unlike other nations that
have carried out human space flight. Instead, it will fly humanoid robots for a better
understanding of what weightlessness and radiation do to the human body during
long durations in space. It is programmed to speak Hindi and English and perform
multiple tasks. It can mimic human activity, recognize other humans, and respond to
their queries. Technically, it can perform environment control and life support
systems functions, handle switch panel operations, and give environmental air
pressure change warnings.
“We are fascinated with robots because they are the reflections
of ourselves.”