Bengaluru: Even before orbiting astronauts on India's first manned mission to the space in December 2021, the Indian Space Research Organisation will send 'Vyomamitra', a 'lady robot', in unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft.

The robot was the centre of attraction at the inaugural session of the "Human Spaceflight and Exploration - Present Challenges and Future Trends" here on Wednesday.

Vyomamitra, a combination of two Sanskrit words Vyoma (Space) and Mitra (Friend), took everyone by surprise when she introduced herself to the audience gathered there.

"Hello everyone. I am Vyomamitra, the prototype of the half-humanoid, been made for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission," the robot said.

Explaining about the role in the mission, she said, "I can monitor though module parameters, alert you and perform life support operations. I can perform activities like switch panel operations..." The robot said she can also be a companion and converse with the astronauts, recognise them and can also respond to their queries.

ISRO chairman K Sivan told reporters the humanoid will simulate human functions in space and also interact with the environment control life support system.

"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," said Sivan.

Earlier, addressing the inaugural function, Sivan said ahead of the launch of India's maiden human spaceflight venture 'Gaganyaan' in December 2021, ISRO will undertake two unmanned missions in December 2020 and June 2021.

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Thane (PTI): A 35-year-old man has allegedly been duped of Rs 2 lakh by three persons in a US dollar exchange fraud in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township, police said on Monday.

One of the accused had approached the victim, a resident of Dombivli in Thane district, claiming his relative wanted to exchange some USD notes. On May 12, the accused showed the victim bundles wrapped in a handkerchief that appeared to contain US currency near a hospital in Kalamboli, they said.

Believing the notes to be authentic, the victim handed over Rs 2 lakh in cash, after which the accused fled.

The victim later found that the bundles handed over to him were actually paper rolls and soap bars, with a single dollar note pasted on top to make them appear genuine, according to the police.

Following the victim's complaint, the police registered a case on charges of cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A probe was underway into the case, the police added.