Summary:
Express News ServiceBENGALURU: Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory, is in the process of developing a fit-to-body medical parameters tracking vest which will be worn by the Gaganauts, the four astronauts chosen for India’s first manned space mission scheduled for late 2021. These live body tracking suits, known as ‘bio vests’, will be wearable health monitoring systems with physiological sensors which keep a check on the wearers’ vital parameters, including heart rate and skin temperature. With the inputs from the vest, one can decide how to deal with the changing physiology of the astronaut or decide if the mission has to be aborted in case the parameters go well beyond the threshold during the mission. The emergency kit will help the astronaut survive for at least 72 hours in an unplanned rescue, Vinoth said. DEBEL has been developing the bio vest for six months now and will send it for the live tests during the first trial on an unmanned Gaganyaan mission slated for December 2020 or early 2021 ahead of the manned mission.The four Gaganauts are scheduled to begin training in Russia in the third week of January..