Bengaluru: Gaganyaan, India’s first human spaceflight mission, seems to be in limbo after several delays due to the pandemic. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has not yet released a revised timeline Project, Its objective is to launch a crew of three astronauts into a 400 km orbit for three days.
The project was conceived in 2007 and formalized Approved 10,000 crore in 2018 with a budget of Rs. The first crewed mission was to be launched in December 2021. Two uncrewed missions were to be carried out in December 2020 and July 2021 before the final launch.
despite the government claiming that There will be no delay due to covid, the first unmanned flight was rescheduled 2020 to 2021 and then Again By 2022. the dates were once again Revised By late 2023 or early 2024, announced Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh in September this year.
In another uncrewed flight, “female robotVyomitra, developed by ISRO, will carry software that will mimic basic metabolic functions and will surveillance Changes in heart rate, blood pressure and other such parameters.
this robot was before is shown In a 2020 show by ISRO. Only its upper half was on display, with its rear circuitry exposed. was a robot going through Pre-flight ground test at ISRO Inertial Systems Unit in October this year.
Singh said the first crewed flight Will Will be launched in 2024, three years after the initially announced date.
then on 15 novemberSingh said a test flight without humanoids or crew would happen only in mid-2024. There is also no concrete information about the number of astronauts coming on the mission and its duration.
Although the preparations for the mission have been done in process– From pad abort test more in 2018 Improvement Sriharikota launch pad to test the latest parachute airdrop in 2019 On 19 November.
ThePrint reached ISRO several times over the phone and mail regarding the timeline, but did not receive a response. The report will be updated upon receipt of a response.
Meanwhile, the agency is working on facilitating access to space for private startups by helping in realizing several MoUs signed with a slew of companies.
India’s first private launchpad inaugurated by ISRO officials Sriharikota on Monday while earlier this month the country’s first private rocket launched from ISRO launch pad.
The agency is also working on Chandrayaan-3, which is scheduled To attempt another landing on the lunar south pole in June 2023.
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Who will fly the space shuttle?
Twelve men were Indian Air Force pilots chose To be a part of the crew in 2018. He was subjected to physical and psychological tests at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Bengaluru. the four pilots of this group were then Selected Will undergo further training at Russia’s Glavkosmos facility in January 2020. The training was completed in the same year.
was an astronaut training facility Established in Bengaluru in May this year. Here, the four astronauts will undergo theoretical training, physical fitness, simulator work, flight suit training, microgravity familiarization, flight systems training, recovery and survival, flight simulators, aeromedical training. according ISRO, Yog.
In 2020, the then ISRO chairman K. Sivan Told Although all four selected candidates will go through extensive training procedures, it is likely that only one will fly on the first mission. recent reports The mission is said to send at least two astronauts, while ISRO’s website says three.
The duration of the mission is also unclear. The space agency’s website says it will be a three-day mission but the news reports The flight is said to be in space for five to seven days.
The flight suits of the astronauts will be designed by the Defense Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory in Bengaluru. their spacesuits and shock absorbing seats have been given supply by the Russian manufacturer NPP Zvezda.
The Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) at Mysuru will provide Indian-cuisine-based food items for the flights.
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Structure of Gaganyaan
To take humans to space for the first time, ISRO needs to develop mission components such as the crew module, improve and reengineer its ground systems, and improve its launch vehicles. All parts involved in the mission have to be made safe for human flight.
three sets of launch vehicles and modules Will To be built as a part of the mission, its test and its final launch. Each launch vehicle with its own crew, service and orbital modules will be used for three flights into orbit.
launch vehicle Made of A liquid core stage with solid propulsion boosters. Above this first stage is the cryogenic stage, which has been designed in-house by ISRO. Just above the cryogenic stage is the Orbital Module, which holds the Crew Module and Service Module. On top of that, forming the tip of the top of the rocket is the Crew Escape System (CES).
The Crew Module is the habitable space for the crew members. It is a cramped structure only 3.5 meters wide and 3.58 meters tall. The module is surrounded by a thermal protection system as its outer layer for safe re-entry through the atmosphere.
It has life support systems (environmental control, air scrubbers for oxygen, pressure systems, food heating equipment, toilets), avionics and deceleration systems.
The service module provides support to the crew module in orbit and includes thermal, propulsion and power systems.
These modules were developed by Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL), and are also designed to enable dock with space stations.
At the top is the CES, powered by solid motors, which can carry the crew to safety during emergencies. It can operate independently of the rest of the rocket if necessary and was tested successfully in August.
space and back
The mission will be launched on an LVM3 rocket (earlier called GSLV Mk III), which has been completely reconfigured. The human-rated version has been rechristened HLVM3.
In January this year, ISRO did Qualification Test on its cryogenic engine at ISRO’s Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, burning it for 720 seconds. Human-rated solid rocket booster, which will also be used for crewed flight had to A static test this year.
it will take 16 minutes for the crew to reach space, where they will spend three days conducting scientific experiments.
Astronauts will revolve around the Earth in an orbit of 400 km. On return, the crew module separation will be at 120 km. It will splash down in a reservoir near India 36 minutes after separation.
The descent of the flight is controlled by ten parachutes. When the descent sequence begins, two Apex Cover Separation Parachutes will be deployed, which will remove the protective cover from the Crew Module parachute compartment.
Two drogue parachutes will then be deployed to slow the vehicle down significantly. This would be followed by three pilot chutes which would immediately give way to three main separate chutes. They will land the crew module at a safe place.
The Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment began in 2014 and the last test was conducted on 19 November. The two 31 km wide parachutes, the largest ever built in India by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, are two of the ten parachutes that control the descent of the flight.
(Editing by Therese Sudip)
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