Mission Gaganyaan 2025: Why Are Indian Scientists Sending 20 Fruit Flies to Space?

• India’s ambitious Gaganyaan mission, led by ISRO, will send astronauts to space in an indigenous spacecraft.
• Scientists are sending 20 fruit flies to space to study their genetic similarity to humans.
• The experiment focuses on preventing kidney stones in astronauts during long-duration space missions.

Why are tiny fruit flies so important for space research?

It may sound surprising, but fruit flies share 77% of their genes with humans! This makes them an excellent subject for scientific experiments, especially in space, where studying human health directly is difficult. For Mission Gaganyaan 2025, Indian scientists will send 20 specially developed fruit flies into space to study how microgravity affects their bodies. The results could help protect astronauts from health issues during long space missions.

One major problem astronauts face is the risk of kidney stones. In space, due to weightlessness, changes in urine acidity, dehydration, and bone loss, the chances of developing kidney stones increase significantly. Scientists from UAS-Dharwad and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, will use fruit flies to understand how kidney stones form in space and find ways to prevent them.

How will this research help space exploration and human health?

This experiment was chosen from 75 agriculture science universities across India, proving its importance in space research. By observing the physiological changes in fruit flies, researchers can gain insights into genetic and molecular changes that affect human health.

Dr. A. S. Kiran Kumar, former ISRO Chairman, highlighted the significance of the study, stating that the knowledge gained will not only benefit astronauts but also help in preventing kidney stones on Earth. If scientists can develop effective countermeasures based on this experiment, future astronauts on long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars may have a safer journey.

With Mission Gaganyaan, India is making a mark in human spaceflight, and this tiny experiment with fruit flies could have a massive impact on the future of space medicine!