Jan 10, 2010
India “naming” space travelers
India aiming to get manned space program "off the ground" in 2015.
India plans manned space missions. They are still some years away. (Their actual spacecraft is still under development.)
But they are busy naming their future space explorers: both selecting them, and deciding what they will be called.
First, selection. The initial group of Indian astronauts will be four fighter pilots. They are looking at a pool of 200 such pilots to find the four.
The Indian media has come up with a Sanskrit-derived name for them: vyomanauts. Vyoma is Sanskrit for “space.” I think it’s a bit of a difficult name for us Westerners, but I wish them the best of luck on the first voyages—which currently is expected to be about 2015.
