SOARING HIGH WITH GAGANYAAN : INDIA’S MAIDEN MANNED MISSION INTO SPACE
Ever since the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin flew into space on April 12, 1961, in his Vostok-1 spacecraft, space has become the cradle of humanity. He was quickly followed by the American astronaut Allan Shephard on May 5, 1961, and later by the Chinese astronaut Chang Liwei on October 15, 2003. If India can make it to space with its ambitious Gaganyaan spacecraft in 2022 to mark the 75th year of India’s Independence as announced by our Prime Minister on his Independence Day address in 2018, it will be the fourth nation in the world to leave its footprint in space. The only Indian citizen to have launched into space so far is Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma who flew into space in 1984 on a Russian spacecraft. Since then, two women astronauts of Indian origin but American citizens, namely Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams have also flown into space. However, an Indian citizen travelling into space in a purely Indian mission is yet to be achieved!
Overview of Mission
Gaganyaan (Sanskrit word meaning “Sky Craft") is intended to be the formative spacecraft
of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme is being designed to carry three people
and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking
capability. In its maiden crewed mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s
largely autonomous 5.3 t (12,000 lb) capsule will orbit the Earth at
400 km (250 mi) altitude for up to seven days with two or three-person
crew on board. The first crewed mission was originally planned to be launched
on ISRO's GSLV Mk III in
December 2021, but this has since been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic in India to be no earlier than 2023. However, on 11 June 2020, it was announced
that while the first uncrewed Gaganyaan launch has been delayed, the overall
timeline for crewed launches is expected to remain unaffected.
Chief
Collaborators
Major
collaborating partners for Gaganyaan include Indian Armed Forces, Defence
Research Development Organisation, Indian Maritime agencies (Indian Navy,
Indian Coast Guard, Shipping Corporation of India, National Institute of
Oceanography, National Institute of Ocean Technology), Indian Meteorological
Department, CSIR Labs, Academic institutes and various industry partners.
Apart from these, ISRO will also bank upon some reliable foreign partners for the supply of some key technologies needed for the flawless execution of the
programme.
This Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
manufactured the Crew Module which had its first un-crewed experimental flight
on 18 December 2014. As of May 2019, the design of the Crew Module has been
completed. Similarly, DRDO will provide support for critical human-centric
systems and technologies like space-grade food, crew healthcare, radiation
measurement and protection, parachutes for the safe recovery of the Crew Module
and fire suppression system.
ISRO has
signed an agreement with a Russian space agencyGlavcosmos, on
1 July 2019 for cooperation in the selection, support, medical examination and
space training of Indian astronauts. ISRO is also planning to develop a
ground station for the Gaganyaan mission at Cocos(Keeling) Islands in
the Indian Ocean under the control of Australia, and after a brief discussion
with the Australian Space Agency, a
temporary ground station for the mission has been set up by ISRO in the island.
Mission Details
If everything goes right, three Indian
astronauts will be lifted off from a refurbished launch pad at Sriharikota by
a GSLV Mark III launch vehicle in a crew capsule and circle the Earth for
nearly 7 days in a low earth orbit of 300 to 400 km. It is still unclear who the crew will be, though indications are strong
that at least one member will be a woman.
The
Crew Module is a fully autonomous 5.3 t (12,000 lb) spacecraft
designed to carry a 3 member crew to orbit and safely return to the Earth after a mission duration of up to seven days. The Crew Module is equipped with two
parachutes for a safe splashdown in water. The parachutes would reduce the speed
of the Crew Module from over 216 m/s to under 11 m/s at splashdown.
The space capsule will have life support
and environmental control systems. It will be equipped with an emergency mission
abort and a Crew Escape System (CES) that can be activated during the first
stage or second rocket stage burn. The nose of the original version of
the orbital vehicle was kept free for a docking mechanism, but
primary entry was evidently through a side hatch secured by explosive bolts.
b. Service Module
The 2.9 t (6,400 lb) Service
Module is powered by liquid propellant engines. The Crew Module is integrated
into the Service Module and together they constitute 8.2 t (18,000 lb) weight
of the orbital module.
The Service Module Propulsion System
(SMPS) will help in the orbit-raising manoeuvre of Gaganyaan to reach 400 km in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and remain connected during deorbit burn
until atmospheric re-entry. It
will use a unified bipropellant system
consisting of MON-3 and Monomethylhydrazine as
oxidizer and fuel respectively, having five main engines derived from
ISRO's liquid apogee motors with
440 N thrust and sixteen 100 N Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters. Upon reentry, the Service
Module will detach itself from the spacecraft.
Selection
of Astronauts
For the first crewed
mission of the Gaganyaan programme, astronaut trainees are selected from the pool of
test pilots, based on selection criteria jointly defined by ISRO and the Indian
Air Force which comprises flying experience, fitness, psychological and aeromedical
evaluation (including anthropometric parameters). It is also speculated that
one of the astronauts might be a woman.
Testing
1. Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE)
On 13 February 2014, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed
over the first boilerplate prototype of the
Crew Module structural assembly to ISRO for Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry
Experiment. ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre would
equip the Crew Module with systems necessary for life support, navigation,
guidance and control systems for the scheduled journey into space.
ISRO undertook an uncrewed test launch of the vehicle aboard the GSLV Mark III X1 vehicle, for an experimental sub-orbital flight on 18 December 2014. In the experimental launch, the GSLV launcher with a dummy upper cryogenic stage (filled with liquid nitrogen to simulate the weight of fuel) was launched from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. The crew module separated from the rocket at an altitude of 126 km. Onboard motors controlled and reduced the speed of the module to an altitude of 80 km (50 mi). Thrusters were shut off at that altitude and atmospheric drag further reduced the speed of the capsule. The module heat shield was expected to experience a temperature in excess of 1,600 °C (2,910 °F). Parachutes were deployed at an altitude of 15 km (9.3 mi) to slow down the module which performed a splashdown in the Bay of Bengal near Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
This flight was used to test orbital injection, separation and re-entry procedures and systems of the Crew Capsule. Also tested were the capsule separation, heat shields and aero-braking manoeuvres, deployment of the parachute, retro-firing, splashdown, flotation systems and procedures to recover the Crew Capsule from the Bay of Bengal.
2. Pad Abort Test
The Pad Abort Test
was a launch escape system safety mechanism of the Crew Module as part of
ISRO’s Human Spaceflight Programme. This system is designed to quickly get
the crew and spacecraft away from the rocket in the event of a potential
failure at the launch pad.
ISRO conducted the Pad Abort Test
successfully on 5 July 2018. As of September 2021, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)
is integrating a test vehicle to conduct an unmanned flight test of the Crew Escape
System (CES) before the official launch of the Gaganyaan mission. The test vehicle
will be ready by the end of 2021.
3. Long Duration Hot Test
of Vikas engine
On July 14 2021, ISRO conducted the third
long-duration hot test of Vikas engine for core L110 liquid stage of GSLV Mark
III at ISRO Propulsion Complex as part of engine qualification requirement of
Gaganyaan mission. The engine was successfully test-fired for a duration of 240
seconds validating all the required performance parameters.
The Vikas engine is used to power the
second stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV),
boosters and the second stage of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
Mark I and II and also the core stage of GSLV Mark III. The propellant loading capacity for the Vikas engine in
PSLV, GSLV Mark I and II is 40 tons, while in GSLV Mark III is 55 tons.
4. Service Module Propulsion System (SMPS)
ISRO on, 28 August 2021, successfully
tested the System Demonstration Model (SDM) of the Service Module Propulsion System
that will be integrated into the Gaganyaan spacecraft. During the on-ground testing
at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC),
SDM was fired for a duration of 450 seconds which matched the pre-test prediction
data using five main engines and eight RCS thrusters. Each 440 N thrust engine
will also be tested individually for a longer duration involving various
parameters to gain human rating certification.
Robots,
Not Animals
On 22 January 2020, ISRO announced
that Vyommitra, a female looking robot will accompany the
astronauts in the mission. ISRO does not want to fly animals onboard
experimental missions, unlike other nations that have carried out human space
flights in past. Instead, it will fly humanoid robots for a better understanding of the impact of weightlessness
and radiation conditions on the human body during a long-duration stay in space.
Vyommitra is expected to be onboard in
the uncrewed Gaganyaan missions to perform microgravity experiments,
monitor module parameters, and support astronauts in crewed missions by
simulating functions exactly like humans. It is programmed to speak Hindi and
English and perform multiple tasks. It can detect and give out warnings in the
event the environmental changes within the cabin get uncomfortable to
astronauts and change the air condition, it can also take up postures suited
for launch and tasks and take commands.
Onboard
Experiments
ISRO selected five
scientific experiments that will be conducted on Gaganyaan. The payloads will
be developed by Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), University
of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD), Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research (TIFR), IIT Patna, Indian Institute of Chemical
Technology (IICT), Hyderabad and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru. Out of the five experiments, two
are biological pursuits which will be conducted by IIST, UASD and TIFR that
will include kidney stone formation and Sirtuin 1 gene marker effects in
the Fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) . IIT, Patna will conduct an experiment on heat-sink that can handle very
high heat flux and IICT will
perform crystallisation phenomenon and JNCASR will check fluid mixing
characteristics.
Cost and Critics
The entire project would be accomplished at a whopping cost of around Rupees 9000 crores. If India can do this, it will be a technological demonstration rather than a source of fetching immediate dividends. Although some critics argued it as a waste of money that could have been diverted to fulfilling basic needs in sectors like food, housing and sanitation for a developing country like India, yet our goal of mastering new technologies and unravelling new frontiers of nature should never be compromised. If we don’t accept the challenge in the space race, other competitor countries like China would be the forerunners in the field. China has already gained an upper hand in the field which is evident from the fact that as we are planning to send a man into space by 2022, China, which has already sent two humans to space, would have established a permanent space station then for a long stay of its astronauts for exploration and research. As the father of our space programme Vikram Sarabhai puts it, “ There are some who question the relevance of space activities in developing nations. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we should be second to none, in the application of advanced technologies in the real problems of the man and the society.”
Benefits
ISRO’s Human Spaceflight Programme will have both tangible and intangible benefits for the nation which includes:
i) Progress towards a
sustained and affordable human and robotic programme to explore the solar
system and beyond.
ii) Advanced technology
capability for undertaking human space exploration, sample return missions and
scientific exploration.
iii) Future capability
to actively collaborate in global space station development and to
carry out scientific experiments of interest to the nation.
iv) Create a broad framework for wider Academia
and Industry partnership in pursuing
development activities for national development.
v) Ample scope for
employment generation and human resource development in advanced science and
R&D activities.
vi) Unique opportunity
to inspire and excite the Indian youth and steer many students toward careers
in science and technology towards challenging jobs that encourage knowledge,
innovation and creativity.
vii) The programme will
strengthen international partnerships and global security through the sharing
of challenging and peaceful goals. Having a vibrant human spaceflight programme
can be leveraged as a potent foreign policy tool.
Greatest
Achievement in Space History
Already, India has created a milestone by launching 104 satellites from a single rocket with minimal cost, the most number of satellites to have been ever launched from a single launcher by any nation. An Indian flying into space in a fully owned Indian mission will be the greatest achievement of India which cannot be paralleled by any other achievement in space history. The feat will not only showcase the nation’s technological prowess in space exploration but also give a tremendous boost to the shaping of our future space programme. As many new infrastructural facilities would be established and a number of state of the art technologies will be tested as a part of this programme, this would lead to further strengthening of our capabilities in space in our goal of peaceful exploration of the vast realm of an infinite and mysterious universe.
Education Officer
Regional Science Centre
Bhopal
Phone: 8018708858
Acknowledgement
1.
Wikipedia
2.
ISRO official
website
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