Indian space agency will fly the first of the four Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) to demonstrate the crew escape system on October 21 as part of its human space mission/Gaganyaan, said a top official.
Speaking to reporters Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S.Somanath said the first unmanned test mission TV-D1 will happen on Oct 21.
Somanath said there will be three more test flights TV-D2, TV-D3 and TV-D4 to test the systems.
“Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway,” ISRO had said recently.
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 (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters,” ISRO said.
This flight will simulate the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission.
ISRO said the Crew Escape System with Crew Module 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 (Crew Escape System) and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of CM (Crew Module) in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota,” ISRO said.
The Crew Module will house the astronauts in a pressurised earthlike atmospheric condition during the Gaganyaan mission.
The Crew Module for the Gaganyaan mission is in different stages of development.
For the Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), the Crew Module is an unpressurised version that has completed its integration and testing and is ready to be shipped to the launch complex.
This unpressurised Crew Module version has to have an overall size and mass of actual Gaganyaan Crew Module and would house all the systems for the deceleration and recovery.
With its complete set of parachutes, recovery aids, actuation systems and pyros.
The avionics systems in 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 Crew Module will be recovered after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy.
The Indian space agency said the Crew Module after integration underwent various electrical testing, at ISRO’s facility in Bengaluru, including an acoustic test and was dispatched to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on 13th August.
At Sriharikota, it will undergo vibration tests and pre-integration with the Crew Escape System, before final integration to the Test Vehicle at the Launch Pad.
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 will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian Astronauts, ISRO said.
New AI algorithm to predict risk of cardiovascular events, heart-related death
A team of researchers in South Korea has developed a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm that uses electrocardiograph (ECG)2 data to predict the risk of cardiovascular events, and heart-related death.
India successfully flight-tests indigenously-developed vertically-launched Surface-to-Air Missile
In a boost to India's precision firepower, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy conducted the successful flight-test of indigenously-developed Vertically-Launched Short-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VLSRSAM) on Wednesday, an official statement said.
Unplanned welcome: Dolphins greet astronauts as they return home after extended space mission
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, have returned to Earth after a lengthy journey that turned a planned eight-day mission into a nine-month in space.
Stranded US astronauts return to Earth, after nine months in space
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying them and two other astronauts—Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—splashed down into the waters off the coast of Florida state just minutes before 6 p.m., as NASA had announced.
Google to acquire cloud security platform Wiz for $32 billion
Tech major Google on Tuesday announced to acquire Wiz, a leading cloud security platform headquartered in New York, for $32 billion in an all-cash transaction.
Ahead of Sunita William’s ‘homecoming’, PM Modi pens letter to India’s illustrious daughter
As the NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore begin their journey back home from space, after staying ‘stranded’ at the International Space Station (ISS) for about nine months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a letter to one of India’s most illustrious daughters hoping for her safe return.
Sunita Williams set to return to Earth tomorrow
With the pair of US astronauts stranded for more than nine months on the International Space Station (ISS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has confirmed that the duo will return to Earth on Tuesday evening.
SpaceX crew-10 docks at ISS, to bring home Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore this week
SpaceX's Crew-10 mission successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, bringing hope for the return of two NASA astronauts -- Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore -- who have been stuck in orbit for months.