Ocean floor will be explored by Samudrayaan by 2025’s end: Earth sciences min Rijiju

NEW DELHI: Earth sciences minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Samudrayaan expedition would investigate the ocean floor by the end of 2025. Following a successful test on March 9 at a depth of around 500 metres in the Bay of Bengal, an underwater acoustic telephone built by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) for the submersible project was immediately followed by the minister’s statement.

An underwater acoustic telephone that was developed in-house by the MSS Group of MOES NIOT for manned submersibles has been successfully tested up to 500 metres deep in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) on board the research vessel Sagar Manjusha, according to a tweet from the ministry.
The underwater acoustic telephone’s deployment, operation, and functional testing were all satisfactorily completed.”
By the end of the next year, India would dispatch scientists to explore the deep ocean at 6,000 metres in its own Samudrayaan, akin to the Gaganyaan mission, which will launch two to three humans into space in 2025. In an interview with a news outlet, Rijiju said that testing of India’s deep-ocean submersible, “Matsya6000,” which would transport scientists into the ocean’s depths, is “well on course” and may occur by the “end of this year.” After reviewing the project, the minister said that by the end of 2025, scientists should be ready to conduct the first shallow water tests.
The undertaking was started in 2021. A variety of research instruments and sensors will be included in the submersible’s arsenal. Its 12-hour operating endurance may be increased to 96 hours in case of necessity. Thus far, nations like the United States, Russia, China, France, and Japan have executed prosperous deep-ocean crewed missions. Should India’s deep-ocean expedition be successful, it will join a select group of countries possessing the necessary equipment and vehicles to conduct operations under the surface of the ocean.