News Analysis India

Tag: Gaganyaan mission

  • Gaganyaan mission: Crew safety test to be undertaken shortly, says ISRO

    Express News Service

    CHENNAI: The preparations for the Gaganyaan mission are in full swing. The project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a 3-member crew to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

    The Crew Module (CM) for the mission is in different stages of development. The first development flight Test Vehicle (TV-D1) is in the final stages of preparation. The Test Vehicle is a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payloads consist of the Crew Module and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters. 

    This flight will simulate the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission. CES with CM will be separated from the Test Vehicle at an altitude of about 17 km. Subsequently, the abort sequence will be executed autonomously commencing with the separation of CES and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of CM in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota, the ISRO said. 

    Private participation or role of KCP Ltd

    Meanwhile, as a part of the ongoing works relating to the mission, the Chennai-based heavy engineering unit of KCP Ltd on Saturday officially handed over the crew module structure for the Integrated Air-Drop Test. 

    R Hutton, Acting Director of ISRO’s Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), received the module from Indira Dutt, chairman and managing director of KCP Group, and lauded the engineering prowess of the firm, whose association with ISRO spans over three decades. 

    On the sidelines, Hutton said the integrated air-drop test is one of the important exercises in evaluating the various systems of Gaganyaan. 

    “What we are seeing today is a single-wall crew module. In the original module, it will be a dual wall. The purpose of this module is to validate the parachute system that we will be using for deceleration.  There will be different kinds of parachutes that we will be using at different altitudes and at a specific sequence. Using this module, we will be validating the end-to-end sequential performance of the parachute system.”

    To a query, Hutton said, when the crew module is orbiting the earth, it will be traveling at 7.5 km per second and that speed has to be brought down to 8.5 meters per second for a safe touchdown. This is the physiological limits of the crew members. For the test, this crew module will be dropped vertically by an Indian Air Force Chinook heavy-lift helicopter from an altitude of about 4 km. 

    According to the firm, this crew module structure weighs 3.1 tonnes, measures 3.1 metre in diameter, stands 2.6 metre tall, and is made using a light alloy of aluminum and 15CDV6 steel. The KCP will be manufacturing another crew module for ISRO which will be delivered by March 2024 after incorporating any necessary changes that the space agency suggests. 

    ALSO READ | Gaganyaan crew wrap up phase-1 training

    Meanwhile, ISRO announced that it was gearing up for the first Test Vehicle Abort mission-1, which will carry an unpressurized crew module. It has completed its integration and testing and is ready to be shipped to the launch complex in Sriharikota. 

    “This unpressurized crew module version has to have an overall size and mass of the actual Gaganyaan Crew Module (CM). It houses all the systems for the deceleration and recovery. With its complete set of parachutes, recovery aids, actuation systems and pyros. The avionics systems in CM are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power. The Crew Module in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems. The Crew Module will be recovered after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy,” the ISRO said.

    CHENNAI: The preparations for the Gaganyaan mission are in full swing. The project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a 3-member crew to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

    The Crew Module (CM) for the mission is in different stages of development. The first development flight Test Vehicle (TV-D1) is in the final stages of preparation. The Test Vehicle is a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payloads consist of the Crew Module and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters. 

    This flight will simulate the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission. CES with CM will be separated from the Test Vehicle at an altitude of about 17 km. Subsequently, the abort sequence will be executed autonomously commencing with the separation of CES and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of CM in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota, the ISRO said. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Private participation or role of KCP Ltd

    Meanwhile, as a part of the ongoing works relating to the mission, the Chennai-based heavy engineering unit of KCP Ltd on Saturday officially handed over the crew module structure for the Integrated Air-Drop Test. 

    R Hutton, Acting Director of ISRO’s Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), received the module from Indira Dutt, chairman and managing director of KCP Group, and lauded the engineering prowess of the firm, whose association with ISRO spans over three decades. 

    On the sidelines, Hutton said the integrated air-drop test is one of the important exercises in evaluating the various systems of Gaganyaan. 

    “What we are seeing today is a single-wall crew module. In the original module, it will be a dual wall. The purpose of this module is to validate the parachute system that we will be using for deceleration.  There will be different kinds of parachutes that we will be using at different altitudes and at a specific sequence. Using this module, we will be validating the end-to-end sequential performance of the parachute system.”

    To a query, Hutton said, when the crew module is orbiting the earth, it will be traveling at 7.5 km per second and that speed has to be brought down to 8.5 meters per second for a safe touchdown. This is the physiological limits of the crew members. For the test, this crew module will be dropped vertically by an Indian Air Force Chinook heavy-lift helicopter from an altitude of about 4 km. 

    According to the firm, this crew module structure weighs 3.1 tonnes, measures 3.1 metre in diameter, stands 2.6 metre tall, and is made using a light alloy of aluminum and 15CDV6 steel. The KCP will be manufacturing another crew module for ISRO which will be delivered by March 2024 after incorporating any necessary changes that the space agency suggests. 

    ALSO READ | Gaganyaan crew wrap up phase-1 training

    Meanwhile, ISRO announced that it was gearing up for the first Test Vehicle Abort mission-1, which will carry an unpressurized crew module. It has completed its integration and testing and is ready to be shipped to the launch complex in Sriharikota. 

    “This unpressurized crew module version has to have an overall size and mass of the actual Gaganyaan Crew Module (CM). It houses all the systems for the deceleration and recovery. With its complete set of parachutes, recovery aids, actuation systems and pyros. The avionics systems in CM are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power. The Crew Module in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems. The Crew Module will be recovered after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy,” the ISRO said.

  • ISRO taking help of doctors in developing human-rated spacecraft for Gaganyaan mission

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation is taking help of doctors in building its human-rated spacecraft for the Gaganyaan mission, India’s first human spaceflight that aims to take astronauts into a low earth orbit.

    The ISRO has roped in doctors to understand the impact of the spaceflight on humans and will design the spacecraft accordingly.

    The astronauts selected for the mission have also been involved in making of the orbital module. “There are four astronauts who are part of Gaganyaan. We talk to them. They sit in a cockpit. We ask them to go through this and tell us whether the placing of equipment is correct, whether the lighting is correct or whether the edges are causing discomfort,” ISRO Chairman S Somnath said during a brainstorming session with health experts on the use of space technology in emergency medical services.

    Somanth said scientists at the ISRO were developing the human-rated spacecraft.

    “We also look at various measures of quality to increase the reliability and finally to prove the redundancy,” Somnath said, adding that space agencies the world over, including ISRO, have imbibed developing failsafe systems as a culture.

    “We are also looking at how doctors can connect with the human spacecraft design. There is an interaction happening with doctors and engineers on the designing of the human spacecraft. If you have to conduct a successful human space flight and sustain it in India, we need a strong pool of doctors who will get involved in this human spaceflight mission as well,” he said.

    Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that the first unmanned mission in the Gaganyaan series was expected to be launched next year. This would be followed by another unmanned mission, before Indian astronauts board the spacecraft for a sojourn in a low earth orbit.

    According to a senior ISRO official, a human-rated spacecraft should be able to accommodate the crew as if they are living in normal acceptable conditions and they should be able to perform various activities during their stay.

    The engineers have to design the spacecraft by identifying potential hazards and developing systems to control such happenings. The spacecraft also should have the facility to safely recover the crew from any hazardous situation.

  • We will support India’s Gaganyaan mission: Australia Space Agency deputy head Anthony Murfett

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Australia will support India’s Gaganyaan mission by tracking it through Cocos Keeling island, Deputy Head Australia Space Agency Anthony Murfett said on Monday.

    Speaking at the International Space Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Murfett said the space cooperation between the two countries is on an upswing and the space agencies of India and Australia have recently updated their Memorandum of Understanding. “We are going to be supporting this Gaganyaan mission by tracking through Australia’s territory on the Cocos Keeling islands,” he said.

    Earlier this year, ISRO chief K Sivan had said the space agency is also in talks with the Australian counterpart to have a ground station at the Cocos Keeling islands for the Gaganyaan mission. Satellites in orbit cannot pass along their information to the ground stations on Earth if it does not have a clear view of the ground station.

    A data relay satellite serves as a way to pass along the satellite’s information. There are blind spots due to which there is a possibility of not receiving signals, sources said.

    The data relay satellite tracking from Cocos Keeling island is expected to help address the issue. Gaganyaan is India’s ambitious human space mission aimed at taking three Indians to Lower Earth Orbit (LEO).