Indian scientists will meet this week to discuss sending the country鈥檚 first crewed mission to space and possibly to the Moon, news reports said on Sunday.
On Tuesday, nearly 60 scientists will attend the meeting, which was organised by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
S. Krishnamurthy, the space agency鈥檚 spokesman, told the Indian Express daily that India wanted to avoid being left behind in the global space race. 鈥淭here is now a feeling that 20 years down the line, other countries would have explored the Moon for minerals and India must not be left behind,鈥� said Krishnamurthy.
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The agency will present the scientists with a plan for a crewed space mission and ask for their feedback, including whether the enterprise should be to the Moon and whether it should be exclusively Indian.
Krishnamurthy said the 鈥渉ow and when鈥� of the potential mission would be decided later: 鈥淲hether the mission will involve orbiting of the Moon will be decided only if we get a favourable opinion for a manned space mission.鈥�
India says its three-decades-old space programme is aimed at developing practical technology. It plans to send an unmanned probe to the Moon in two or three years (see India special: Space programme presses ahead).
Only three other countries have sent human missions into space: Russia, the US and China.
