The Indian Space Research Organisation will send Vyommitra, a ‘lady robot’ in the unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft before sending astronauts on India’s first manned mission to space in December of 2021.

The humanoid robot was unveiled at the inaugural session of the “Human Spaceflight and Exploration – Present Challenges and Future Trends”. Introducing herself, the robot said: “Hello everyone. I am Vyommitra, the prototype of the half-humanoid, been made for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission.”

“I can monitor through module parameters, alert you and perform life support operations. I can perform activities like switch panel operations,” she added.

According to ISRO Chairman K Sivan, the half humanoid will simulate human functions in space and also interact with the environment control life support system, reports Economic Times.

“It will be simulating exactly the human functions there (in space). It will check whether the system is right. This will be very useful to simulate as if a human is flying,” he added.