Opinion One step closer to an Indian astronaut in space
Express View: The agency has done the right thing by not finalising Gaganyaan's launch. In the coming months, its trials will be watched with excitement
Chandrayaan too will not return to Earth. ISRO's challenge, therefore, is to develop a module that can take humans to an orbit of 400 km and bring them back. 
-
Share -
-
-
On Saturday, ISRO carried out its first test with the aim to launch an Indian astronaut in space in the next two years — the Gaganyaan mission. On trial was the project’s safety system. A snag in the ignition rocket caused a delay of about two hours. But ISRO scientists quickly identified and corrected the anomaly, after which a rocket carried a payload comprising the Crew Escape System and an experimental test vehicle, the crew module, 17 km into the atmosphere.
The module plays a critical role in ensuring the astronauts’ safety and comfort during the space mission. ISRO has, therefore, done the right thing in giving priority to the mission’s nerve centre. Even though, by all accounts, the Gaganyaan vehicle is robust, the space agency doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. It wants to ensure that in case of any emergency, astronauts can return to safety. In fact, crew safety was among the considerations behind ISRO’s request to the Centre to relax timelines — in his Independence Day speech in 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked of a manned space mission by 2022. Saturday’s trial takes ISRO one step closer towards making Gaganyaan’s systems foolproof.
ISRO’s Policy Planning Committee first endorsed a crewed space mission in 2004. It has taken close to 20 years to conduct the safety trials. This only underscores the complexity of the venture. Human spaceflight is harder and more expensive compared to the Mars mission or the recently successful mission to the Moon. It requires space agencies to build capsules in which astronauts can live in Earth-like conditions.
Satellites normally launched by ISRO, for communication or remote sensing, remain in space even when their life is over. Chandrayaan too will not return to Earth. ISRO’s challenge, therefore, is to develop a module that can take humans to an orbit of 400 km and bring them back. Chandrayaan’s success has been a big shot in the arm for the space agency’s human spaceflight venture. It will use the same launch vehicle that was used for the moon mission — Saturday’s trial, though, was conducted using a lighter rocket. The space agency also worked on parachute systems that ensure the crew module slows down and safely splashes in the water after the mission. Saturday’s trial showcased the success of this emergency escape mechanism.
The module was fitted with instruments which will gather data to help ISRO with future tests and the final mission. In the coming trials, the space agency will test more complex safety mechanisms including ascertaining Gaganyaan’s performance on all parameters other than crew presence. It plans to send a robot to space as a prelude to the crewed mission. The agency has done the right thing by not finalising Gaganyaan’s launch. In the coming months, its trials will be watched with excitement.
-
Share
-
-
-
Share
