Samudrayaan Mission

Samudrayaan program or Deep Ocean Mission is an Indian endeavor focusing on deep-ocean exploration in India’s exclusive economic zones and continental shelf. The program includes manned and unmanned submersibles that will explore the seafloor. The primary goal of this mission is to focus on studying and exploring the deep water bodies of our country and extracting Polymetallic Nodules composed of minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, and hydroxide of Iron. Such metals are very useful for the manufacturing Industries related to various electronic devices, batteries, and solar panels. India has been allotted a 75,000 km2 (29,000 sq mi) region in the Central Indian Ocean Basin to discover polymetallic nodules from the seabed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

History of the Samudrayaan Mission:

On January 26, 1981, the Government-sponsored the polymetallic nodules (PMN) program at CSIR-NIO to collect the first nodule sample from the Arabian Sea on board the first research vessel Gaveshani.

The ‘area’ for deep-sea mining was designated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Ocean Mission.

India’s Ocean Mining Preparedness:

• The mining site in India is nearly 5,500 meters deep, with substantial pressure and unusually frigid temperatures.
• A Remotely Operated Vehicle and an In-Situ Soil Tester were also operated to a depth of 6,000 meters. We understand the Central Indian Ocean Basin mining zone inside and out.
• The newly built deep mining equipment traveled almost 900 meters and will be placed at 5,500 meters. Other considerations have included weather and ship access.

Effects on the Environment:

Ocean mining, which occurs in various nations, has raised severe worries among environmentalists. Another source of their concern is the possibility of oil leaks owing to silt plumes that may have formed due to the mining activity.
On the other hand, India appears to be optimistic about its research, believing that once the mission takes off and the investigation begins, significant breakthroughs will be possible. Many species capable of surviving in adverse weather circumstances will be identified since the temperature at the ocean’s lowest depths is exceedingly soft.

Objectives of the Samudrayaan Mission:

• For 8000 crores, the institution has designed a five-year plan to dig, investigate, and analyze the ocean floor. This plan’s goals include doing research to produce a climate change roadmap and aiding in the creation of a tidal-powered desalination plant.
• Developing a submersible vehicle suitable for investigating depths of at least 6,000 meters is one of the critical projects that will enable the previous study (20,000 ft).

Progress in the Samudrayaan Mission:

The Indian Space Research Organization founded a human-crewed submersible capsule capable of diving to 6,000 meters for the ocean mission expedition. The decision was made on the margins of the silver jubilee festivities for the National Institute of Ocean Technology. A deep-submergence automobile called Matsya 6000 is in the works. The ‘personnel sphere’ was dropped 600 meters off the coast of Chennai for the vehicle’s maiden unmanned experiment on October 27, 2021. The testing went well, and the product was given the green light to move forward. Following the trial’s success on October 29, 2021, the “Samudrayaan” program was formally started.

Conclusion:

The Indian government launched the Deep Oceanic Mission (DOM) to explore our country’s new marine richness. The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will oversee this massive initiative.

With this ocean mission, the government needs to achieve seabed discovery in almost the same way that ISRO does in space. In this piece, we’ll go through the Samudrayaan Mission and its significance to the country.