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India begins 2024 by orbiting XPoSAT

The rocket carried XPoSat and 10 other experimental payloads on its fourth stage…reports Asian Lite News

India on Monday ushered in the New Year in a grand manner by orbiting its X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) ISRO and the space agency will also test its fuel cell, a precursor for powering the Indian space station whenever it is built.

At about 9.10 a.m. on the first day of the calendar year 2024, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C58 (PSLV-C58) standing 44.4-metre tall, with a lift off mass of 260 ton blasted off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, here.

The rocket carried XPoSat and 10 other experimental payloads on its fourth stage.

Slowly rising up towards the skies with a thick orange flame at its tail, the rocket gained speed with a sound resembling rolling thunder and went up leaving a thick plume while the people assembled at the viewing gallery clapped their hands with pride.

Interestingly, this is the first space mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 1.

At about 21 minutes into its flight, the rocket ejected XPoSat at an altitude of about 650 km.

Speaking after the launch ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said: “The orbit accomplished for XPoSat is excellent as the deviation is just three kilometres. The solar panels of the satellite have been deployed.”

After orbiting the XPoSat, the rocket’s fourth stage — PS4 stage — will be lowered to 350km, about 9.6 degree orbit, by restarting it twice. The Indian space agency will now use the fourth stage as an orbital platform with 10 experimental payloads loaded on it.

“We could have done the experiments at the 650km altitude. We decided to bring down the stage so that we don’t create more space debris,” Somanath said.

Continuing further he said, the remaining fuel on the fourth stage will be dumped in an unique manner.

The left-out propellant in the PS4 will be disposed of through the main engines as a precursor to enabling the safety of the PS4 stage in atmosphere reentry experiments planned in future, ISRO said.

The oxidiser will be let out first followed by fuel in a predetermined sequence of operations. The existing scheme of spent stage passivation by venting the tank pressure will also be active.

Post passivation of PS4, the control of the stage is transferred to the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) avionics, the ISRO said.

The POEM is configured as a 3-axis stabilised orbital platform for conducting experiments to space qualify systems with novel ideas.

The orbital platform’s electrical power requirements are catered by a Flexible Solar Panel in conjunction with 50Ah Li-Ion battery in battery tied configuration.

The orbital platform consists of avionic systems to take care of navigation, guidance, control and telecommands and Orbital Platform Attitude Control System to cater to control of the platform to test the payloads, the ISRO added.

The 10 payloads are from TakeMe2Space, LBS Institute Technology for Women, K.J. Somaiya Institute of Technology, Inspecity Space Labs Private Ltd, Dhruva Space Private Ltd, Bellatrix Aerospace Private Ltd (two payloads) and three payloads from the ISRO.

According to Somanath, ISRO will be testing its fuel cell which will be the precursor for powering the Indian space station whenever it is built.

The Indian space agency will also test its silicon based high energy cells.

The XPoSat is the first dedicated scientific satellite from the ISRO to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources. The satellite configuration is modified from the IMS-2 bus platform. The configuration of the mainframe systems is derived based on the heritage of IRS satellites. It carries two payloads, namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).

The POLIX is realised by the Raman Research Institute and XSPECT is by the Space Astronomy Group of the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC).

The ISRO has five types of PSLV rockets — Standard, Core Alone, XL, DL, and QL. The major difference between them is the use of strap-on boosters which, in turn, largely depends on the weight of the satellites to be orbited.

The PSLV uses 6,4,2 solid rocket strap-on motors to augment the thrust provided by the first stage in PSLV-XL, QL & DL variants, respectively. However, strap-ons are not used in the core-alone version (PSLV-CA). The PSLV rocket that flew on New Year Day was the DL variant with two solid booster motors.

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‘US to Include Int’l Astronaut on NASA’s Artemis Moon Mission by 2030’

Artemis 2 is slated to send four astronauts — three from NASA and one from CSA — around the moon in late 2024 or 2025…reports Asian Lite News

The US will land an international astronaut on the Moon aboard NASA’s Artemis mission by the end of the decade, said Vice President Kamala Harris during a meeting of the White House’s National Space Council in Washington, DC.

“Alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the Moon by the end of the decade,” Harris said at the meeting held on Wednesday.

Harris said that it is in recognition of the essential role that allies like Europe, Japan and Canada played in the Artemis programme. However, it remains unclear which country that astronaut will represent. Meanwhile, NASA has committed to train an Indian astronaut to fly to the International Space Station in 2024.

With NASA’s Artemis mission, the US aims to return humans to the moon, and maintain US leadership in space exploration and prepare for future missions to Mars by 2025. Artemis III will also land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term, sustainable presence and serving as a gateway for future astronaut missions to Mars.

“The Artemis programme is the most ambitious space exploration effort in generations. For the first time in more than half a century, the United States will return astronauts to the lunar surface. We will establish the first lunar base camp and the first station in lunar orbit — all of this in collaboration with our allies and partners,” Harris said.

To achieve Artemis’ goals, NASA made both commercial and international partnerships with European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canada Space Agency, who will also make significant contributions to the lunar space station.

“NASA has committed to three opportunities for European Space Agency astronauts to fly to Gateway, one opportunity to fly a Canadian Space Agency astronaut to Gateway and one opportunity on Artemis II, and one opportunity for a Japanese (JAXA) astronaut to fly to Gateway,” a NASA official was quoted as saying to CNN.

“Beyond Artemis II, these crew opportunities have not been designated to specific Artemis missions.”

In 2022, Artemis 1 sent an uncrewed Orion to lunar orbit and back late last year.

Artemis 2 is slated to send four astronauts — three from NASA and one from CSA — around the moon in late 2024 or 2025.

Artemis 3, which will put astronauts down near the lunar south pole for the first time since 1972, is targeted for 2025. However, a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), identified several gaps in the mission’s human landing system and spacesuit design, among others, which will not be complete before 2027.

The delay is also likely to push back subsequent Artemis missions, with Artemis 4 currently planned for 2028, followed by Artemis 5 through 7 expected to transpire annually starting in 2029.

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Kamala Harris Vows Intl. Astronaut on Moon Soon

With NASA’s Artemis mission, the US aims to return humans to the moon, and maintain US leadership in space exploration…reports Asian Lite News

US Vice President Kamala Harris announced during a session of the White House’s National Space Council in Washington, DC, that the United States aims to send an international astronaut to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis mission by the decade’s end.

“Alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the Moon by the end of the decade,” Harris said at the meeting held on Wednesday.

Harris said that it is in recognition of the essential role that allies like Europe, Japan and Canada played in the Artemis programme. However, it remains unclear which country that astronaut will represent. Meanwhile, NASA has committed to train an Indian astronaut to fly to the International Space Station in 2024.

With NASA’s Artemis mission, the US aims to return humans to the moon, and maintain US leadership in space exploration and prepare for future missions to Mars by 2025. Artemis III will also land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term, sustainable presence and serving as a gateway for future astronaut missions to Mars.

“The Artemis programme is the most ambitious space exploration effort in generations. For the first time in more than half a century, the United States will return astronauts to the lunar surface. We will establish the first lunar base camp and the first station in lunar orbit — all of this in collaboration with our allies and partners,” Harris said.

To achieve Artemis’ goals, NASA made both commercial and international partnerships with European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canada Space Agency, who will also make significant contributions to the lunar space station.

“NASA has committed to three opportunities for European Space Agency astronauts to fly to Gateway, one opportunity to fly a Canadian Space Agency astronaut to Gateway and one opportunity on Artemis II, and one opportunity for a Japanese (JAXA) astronaut to fly to Gateway,” a NASA official was quoted as saying to CNN.

“Beyond Artemis II, these crew opportunities have not been designated to specific Artemis missions.”

In 2022, Artemis 1 sent an uncrewed Orion to lunar orbit and back late last year.

Artemis 2 is slated to send four astronauts — three from NASA and one from CSA — around the moon in late 2024 or 2025.

Artemis 3, which will put astronauts down near the lunar south pole for the first time since 1972, is targeted for 2025. However, a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), identified several gaps in the mission’s human landing system and spacesuit design, among others, which will not be complete before 2027.

The delay is also likely to push back subsequent Artemis missions, with Artemis 4 currently planned for 2028, followed by Artemis 5 through 7 expected to transpire annually starting in 2029.

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Foreign Minister Jaishankar Lauds ISRO on Lunar Prize Win

Jaishankar took to social media to extend his applause to ISRO on the achievement….reports Asian Lite News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for bagging the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize.

Jaishankar took to social media to extend his applause to ISRO on the achievement.

“Congratulations @isro for the 2023 Leif Erikson Lunar Prize. Chandrayaan brings more laurels to the nation,” posted Jaishankar on X.

Notably, in a momentous recognition of India’s space prowess, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been feted with the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize by the Husavik Museum in Iceland.

The award acknowledges ISRO’s unwavering dedication and indomitable spirit in propelling lunar exploration forward and contributing significantly to unravelling celestial mysteries, particularly through the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission.

“Leif Erikson Lunar Prize has been awarded by Husavik Museum for @ISRO’s indomitable spirit in advancing lunar exploration & contributing to understanding celestial mysteries #Chandrayaan3,” the Indian Embassy in Iceland posted on X.

Indian Ambassador Balasubramanian Shyam received the prestigious prize on behalf of ISRO.”ISRO Chairman Mr S Somanath sent a message; Amb Mr Shyam received the prize on ISRO’s behalf,” the embassy’s post added.

Indian Ambassador Balasubramanian Shyam received the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize on behalf of ISRO. “ISRO Chairman Mr S.Somanath sent a message; Amb Mr Shyam received the prize on ISRO’s behalf,” the embassy’s post added.

The triumph of Chandrayaan-3 marked a historic milestone on August 23 when the lander module successfully touched down on the moon’s South Pole. India became the fourth nation, following the United States, China, and Russia, to achieve a successful lunar landing. The mission not only showcased technological prowess but also signalled redemption after the disappointment of the Chandrayaan-2 crash landing four years earlier.

Post-landing, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover conducted various tasks on the lunar surface, including detecting the presence of sulfur and other elements, recording relative temperature, and monitoring lunar activities. The success of Chandrayaan-3 further solidified India’s standing in lunar exploration.

Following the lunar triumph, India swiftly moved ahead with its maiden solar mission, Aditya-L1, launched on September 2. The spacecraft has successfully undergone multiple maneuvers, including four earth-bound maneuvers and a crucial Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) maneuver, enabling it to escape Earth’s sphere of influence.

In the most recent development, the Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 achieved another feat by transitioning from lunar orbit to Earth’s orbit.

The Indian Space Research Organisation shared the achievement on X, stating, “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Ch-3’s Propulsion Module (PM) takes a successful detour! In another unique experiment, the PM is brought from Lunar orbit to Earth’s orbit. An orbit-raising manoeuvre and a Trans-Earth injection manoeuvre placed PM in an Earth-bound orbit.” (ANI)

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NASA laser message beams video of a cat from deep space

The short ultra-high definition video, which was uploaded before launch on NASA’s Psyche mission on October 13, features an orange tabby cat named Taters, the pet of a JPL employee, chasing a laser pointer, with overlayed graphics…reports Asian Lite News

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment beamed an ultra-high definition streaming video of a cat from a record-setting 31 million kilometres, or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance.

The milestone, part of NASA technology demonstration aimed at streaming very high-bandwidth video and other data from deep space — enabling future human missions beyond Earth orbit — was achieved on December 11.

The short ultra-high definition video, which was uploaded before launch on NASA’s Psyche mission on October 13, features an orange tabby cat named Taters, the pet of a JPL employee, chasing a laser pointer, with overlayed graphics.

The graphics illustrate several features from the tech demo, such as Psyche’s orbital path, Palomar’s telescope dome, and technical information about the laser and its data bit rate.

Tater’s heart rate, colour, and breed are also on display.

“This accomplishment underscores our commitment to advancing optical communications as a key element to meeting our future data transmission needs,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.

“Increasing our bandwidth is essential to achieving our future exploration and science goals, and we look forward to the continued advancement of this technology and the transformation of how we communicate during future interplanetary missions,” Melroy added.

The demo transmitted the 15-second test video via a cutting-edge instrument called a flight laser transceiver.

The video signal took 101 seconds to reach Earth, sent at the system’s maximum bit rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps).

Capable of sending and receiving near-infrared signals, the instrument beamed an encoded near-infrared laser to the Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, where it was downloaded.

Each frame from the looping video was then sent “live” to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the video was played in real time.

This latest milestone comes after “first light” was achieved on November 14. Since then, the system has demonstrated faster data downlink speeds and increased pointing accuracy during its weekly checkouts.

On the night of December 4, the project demonstrated downlink bit rates of 62.5 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 267 Mbps, which is comparable to broadband internet download speeds. The team was able to download a total of 1.3 terabits of data during that time.

“Despite transmitting from millions of miles away, it was able to send the video faster than most broadband internet connections,” said Ryan Rogalin, the project’s receiver electronics lead at JPL.

As Psyche travels to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the technology demonstration will send high-data-rate signals as far out as the Red Planet’s greatest distance from Earth. In doing so, it paves the way for higher-data-rate communications capable of sending complex scientific information, high-definition imagery, and video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.

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Astronomers find giant stream of stars running between galaxies

With large future telescopes, the researchers not only hope to discover new giant streams, they also want to zoom in on the Giant Coma Stream itself…reports Asian Lite News

An international team of researchers has discovered the largest-ever giant and extremely faint stream of stars running between galaxies.

The observations were made with University of California-Los Angeles astronomer Michael Rich’s relatively small 70-centimetre telescope in the US and using the 4.2-metre William Herschel telescope at La Palma, Spain.

After image processing, they saw an extremely faint stream more than 10 times the length of our Milky Way.

Named the Giant Coma Stream, it appeared to float in the middle of the cluster environment, not associated with any galaxy in particular, said the researchers in the paper published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

“This giant stream crossed our path by coincidence,” said lead researcher Javier Roman, associated with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the University of La Laguna in Spain.

“We were studying halos of stars located around large galaxies.”

The discovery of the Giant Coma Stream is remarkable because it is a rather fragile structure amid a hostile environment of mutually attracting and repelling galaxies.

“Meanwhile, we have been able to simulate such huge flows in the computer. We therefore expect to find more of them. For example, if we search with the future 39-metre ELT and when Euclid starts producing data,” said co-author Reynier Peletier from University of Groningen.

With large future telescopes, the researchers not only hope to discover new giant streams, they also want to zoom in on the Giant Coma Stream itself.

“We would love to observe individual stars in and near the stream and learn more about dark matter,” Peletier said.

The Coma Cluster is one of the best-studied clusters of galaxies. It contains thousands of galaxies at a distance of about 300 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the northern constellation Coma Berenices.

In 1933, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky showed that the galaxies in the cluster move too fast if you only take the amount of visible matter into account. He figured out that there must be dark matter that keeps things together. The exact nature of dark matter is still unknown.

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ISRO’s space telescope spots over 600 gamma-ray bursts  

GRBs last from a fraction of a second to several minutes, and are accompanied by the birth of a black hole…reports Asian Lite News

India’s AstroSat space telescope has achieved a significant milestone by detecting more than 600 Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), each marking the death of a massive star or merging of neutron stars.

“The detection of the 600th GRB is a great demonstration of the continued undiminished performance of Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) eight years after launch, and well after its design lifetime,” Dipankar Bhattacharya, the principal investigator for CZTI, said.

Dubbed as mini big-bangs, GRBs are the most energetic explosions in the universe, emitting more energy in seconds than the sun will emit in its entire lifetime, Gaurav Waratkar, a Ph.D student at IIT Bombay, who leads the study of GRBs with AstroSat, said.

GRBs last from a fraction of a second to several minutes, and are accompanied by the birth of a black hole.

Launched in 2015 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), AstroSat had a design life of five years, but continues to be in good health, making observations for astronomers.

The satellite is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, equipped with a suite of payloads for simultaneously observing celestial objects across different wavelengths, from ultraviolet to X-rays.

“We are proud of what AstroSat has accomplished. To build upon this success, multiple institutes have come together and proposed to build Daksha, a next-generation GRB space telescope that will be far better than any such satellite worldwide. Daksha will be sensitive enough to detect in just over a year what CZTI did in eight,” Varun Bhalerao, associate professor at IIT-Bombay, said.

The 600th GRB detection by AstroSat’s CZTI detector was made on November 22, which was notified to astronomers across the world who could use it in their research on such a phenomenon and provide astronomers with invaluable data to explore the extreme conditions associated with these high-energy events.

“It is amazing to look at the data and have the opportunity to be the first one to view these explosions that happened billions of years ago,” Waratkar said.

He said since the 600th GRB, the CZTI has detected three more such events, the latest on Monday.

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India’s space economy is poised to reach USD 40 billion by 2040

The minister said that the next significant development in the Indian space programme will be the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission…reports Asian Lite News

India’s space economy is poised to reach USD 40 billion by 2040, and scientists will also enjoy a better working environment, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said.

The Minister of State for Science and Technology & Atomic Energy and Space (Independent Charge) said that some foreign agencies like the AKD have predicted that this figure could even go up to USD 100 billion by 2040.

“At present, our space economy is not very impressive, as we have just about USD 8 million. But we are moving in quantum jumps, and in the foreign satellite launch alone, we have earned about EUR 230–240 million for launching European satellites and about USD 170-180 million for launching American satellites,” Singh said.

He was speaking after inaugurating the 60thanniversary celebrations of ISRO’s rocket launch.

Singh said that with the establishment of the National Research Foundation, Anu Sandhan, a better model of similar foundations existing in US, a significant industry presence could be established. “With this, more than 70 per cent of our space resources are going to come from the non-government sector. So, this is also going to supplement our resources,” the minister said.

Agreeing with the fact that India did face a resource crunch in its space sector, he said, “We could tide it over with the great scientific acumen we have.” “We could even overtake other countries with that. Although they were the first to land a human on the Moon, Chandrayaan was the first to detect the H2O molecule,” the minister said. He said the ‘courageous’ decision of the political dispensation to open up the space sector to private players has been a game-changer. “This has supplemented our resources both fund-wise and knowledge-wise,” Singh added.

He said the opening up of the sector also helped popularise the concept of space science in the country. “The entire nation got involved in Chandrayaan. It was like the whole of science plus, the whole of the government plus, the whole of the nation,” Singh said.

The minister said that the next significant development in the Indian space programme will be the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, for which one of the trial flight test has already happened. He said by 2025, India would be sending a man to space and bringing him back safely. “Two to three months before it, we will have a female robot going to space, which could mimic all the actions of an astronaut,” the minister added.

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SpaceX Sends 23 More Starlink Satellites To Space

SpaceX Starship's 1st test flight may takeoff on April 10: Report(twitter)

Falcon 9’s first stage returned and landed on A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean….reports Asian Lite News

U.S. private space company SpaceX launched 23 more Starlink satellites into orbit on Wednesday.

The satellites were launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the U.S. state of Florida at 2:47 a.m. Wednesday Eastern Time, according to SpaceX.

Falcon 9’s first stage returned and landed on A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The company later confirmed the deployment of the 23 satellites.

Starlink will deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable, according to SpaceX.

Meanwhile SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the recent test flight of SpaceX’s Starship did not damage the launch pad.

The Starship successfully lifted off under the power of all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy Booster and made it through stage separation on Saturday evening.

The booster, however, experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly shortly after stage separation while Starship’s engines fired for several minutes on its way to space, SpaceX said.

During the first test flight in April, the integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket blew apart the launchpad shortly after the launch. It spewed debris up to 20 acres outside the area that federal regulators initially expected.

To prevent this, one of the “several upgrades” that SpaceX did was to install a water-spewing steel plate beneath the pad. Musk said the plate prevented damage to the Starship launch pad so that no additional changes are needed to it before the next launch.

“Just inspected the Starship launch pad and it is in great condition! No refurbishment needed to the water-cooled steel plate for next launch,” Musk said in a post on X.

The launch of Starship has also again triggered an investigation by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over the booster explosion.

“A mishap occurred during the @SpaceX Starship OFT-2 launch from Boca Chica, Texas, on Saturday, November 18. The anomaly resulted in a loss of the vehicle. No injuries or public property damage have been reported,” the aviation regulator posted on X.

“The FAA will oversee the @SpaceX-led mishap investigation to ensure SpaceX complies with its FAA-approved mishap investigation plan and other regulatory requirements,” the agency added.

Meanwhile, the billionaire also said that the next flight of Starship is likely before Christmas.

“Starship Flight 3 hardware should be ready to fly in three to four weeks. There are three ships in final production in the high bay (as can be seen from the highway),” Musk said.

Starship is the tallest rocket ever assembled. The fully-integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket stands 394 feet tall, and is about 30 feet in diameter.

SpaceX aims to use Starship as a fully reusable transportation system to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

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ISRO Aces Crucial Test For Human Space Mission

After twists & turns, the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, successfully flight tests crew escape system, module for human space mission, reports Venkatachari Jagannathan

After some twists and turns and suspense, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully flight tested the crew escape system, crew module that would carry the country’s astronauts sometime in 2025.

The mission was called Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1).

Announcing the mission’s success ISRO Chairman S.Somanath said: “The TV-D1 mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system for Gaganyaan (the name for Indian human space mission).”

He said the parachutes opened and the crew module touch down on the Bay of Bengal at the required velocity.

The crew module will be recovered from the sea by the Indian Navy ship and brought to the Chennai Port.

The space agency will then study the data.

On the twists and turns, Somanath said owing to the weather and poor visibility conditions the launch which was originally slated at 8 a.m. was postponed to 8.45 a.m. And just five seconds before the lift off from the first launch pad, the computer systems held back the rocket due to a non-conformance in the system.

He said the issue was identified and sorted out quickly.

The rocket had to be filled with gases and then the mission happened.

Measuring about 35 tall and weighing about 44 tonnes, the test vehicle/rocket uses a modified Vikas engine which is powered by liquid fuel.

The ISRO had modified the L40 booster Vikas engine used to power the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) formerly called GSLV-Mk2.

The crew module and crew escape system are mounted at the fore end of the rocket.

Five seconds to lift off and while one was able to see some fire and some smoke from the rocket’s tail, the full fledged ignition did not happen and the automatic launch sequence was put on hold.

This in turn brought the memories of the first flight of GSLV-D1 way back in March 2001. Then, the rocket was held back just one second before it was to lift off carrying communication satellite GSAT-1.

Even then some initial ignition was noticed but soon it stopped.

The rocket was subsequently launched on April 18, 2001 Be that as it may, with the lift off on hold, Somanath had announced postponement of the TV-D1 launch to a future date.

However the ISRO team quickly checked and sorted out the reason for the launch put on hold. The test rocket finally lifted off from the first launch pad here at 10 a.m. and the whole mission got completed in about nine minutes.

“It was a big training for the Gaganyaan mission,” Somanath said.

The entire flight sequence — from the test rocket’s lift off to the crew module touchdown at the sea with the deployment of parachutes – took about nine minutes.

According to ISRO, the mass of the crew module is 4,520 kg and is a single walled unpressurised aluminium structure.

At about 61 seconds into the flight and at an altitude of 11.9 km, the test vehicle/rocket and the crew escape system got separated. Soon after that the crew module and crew escape system got separated.

Subsequently, the abort sequence was executed autonomously commencing with the separation of crew escape system and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of the crew module in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota.

The crew module will house the astronauts in a pressurised earthlike atmospheric condition during the real human space mission.

Currently the crew module for the Gaganyaan mission is in different stages of development.

The TV-D1 is an unpressurised version but has an overall size and mass of actual Gaganyaan crew module and would house all the systems for the deceleration and recovery.

The avionics systems in the crew module are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power.

According to ISRO, the crew module in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems.

The deceleration of the crew module was done with parachutes with pyro systems when it was at about an altitude of 17 km.

The crew module finally splashed down on Bay of Bengal at about 10 km from the launch pad at Sriharikota.

This Test Vehicle mission with this crew module is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan programme as a near-complete system is integrated for a flight test.

The success of this test flight has set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian astronauts.

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