As NASA’s Artemis II carries four astronauts in the Orion capsule named Integrity on a lunar voyage, India’s four astronaut-designates, known as the Gaganyatris, are undergoing a different kind of rehearsal in the high-altitude cold desert of Ladakh, often described as a ‘moonscape’ due to its harsh, low-oxygen environment.
This exercise, Mission MITRA (Mapping of Interoperable Traits & Reliability Assessment), is a field simulation developed jointly by ISRO’s Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) and Protoplanet, with the latter serving as the lead executing partner. The mission is a cooperative effort by an expert team consisting of psychologists, medical professionals, and engineers. It is a mission focused upon understanding an extremely important part of every space mission; that is, the human crew.
In extending his services to the mission, Group Captain Prasant Balakrishnan Nair reflected upon the philosophical implications of the mission while in Ladakh. “As Artemis II lifted off, there was a peaceful joy in knowing we will soon experience the view of Earth from the Moon, which re-emphasises Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Sitting in Ladakh, one realises why this eternal philosophy of ‘the world is one family’ has always guided us,” he told NDTV.
MITRA is an experiment that will examine how teams behave and psychologically respond to stressors (eg, cold, lack of oxygen [hypoxia], isolation, and limited comforts). Ladakh provides a natural environment with extreme conditions (high ultraviolet radiation, high elevation/altitude, low atmospheric pressure, saline permafrost, and severe cold temperatures) that represent the harshness of deep space exploration.
Dr Siddharth Pandey, Director of Protoplanet, explained, “Mission MITRA represents a shift toward understanding the ‘human machine’ as deeply as the spacecraft itself. By analysing interactions in Ladakh’s harsh climate, we ensure future missions are built on a foundation of psychological resilience and team cohesion.”
Preparing India’s First Astronauts
Group Captains Prasant Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, and Shubhanshu Shukla are the 4 astronauts who are being tested/train to become IAF test pilots for the future of India's manned spaceflight missions to low Earth orbit and the moon's surface by 2040. The others are their supporting team members who will work with these astronauts for manned spaceflight missions from low Earth orbit to the moon's surface by 2040.
Mission MITRA looks at several different types of critical human factors, including decision-making while fatigued or under duress, communication protocols, group dynamics and other variables when routine supports are removed. The astronauts' actions will be monitored by doctors and psychologists, turning Ladakh into a controlled stress laboratory.
The analogue mission legacy to provide data and experience for human spaceflight continues to grow with more missions from ISRO, such as the LHAM mission (2024), the Anugami mission (2025) and the HOPE mission (2025), all of which are assessing and measuring human performance related to physiological, psychological and operational metrics.
Each of these analogue missions exemplifies India's intention to ensure that, as part of preparing for long-duration spaceflight, not only is there technical readiness for human spaceflight, but there is also human readiness.
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Shubhanshu Shukla, India’s only astronaut to have flown on a NASA-supported mission, reflected from Ladakh, "Once you leave the boundary of your planet, in a sense, you lose all boundaries. You don't introduce yourself as being from India or the USA. You introduce yourself as being from Earth."
Mission MITRA, meaning ‘friend,’ embodies the principle that trust, teamwork, and human reliability are as essential as hardware in India’s journey to the Moon and beyond.