SAFETY TEST FOR GAGANYAAN

20 Oct 2023 8 mins Download PDF

Why in the News?

ISRO is set to carry out the first of a series of tests of systems and procedures of Gaganyaan mission, in less than two months after the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing.

The safety test:

1. The Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1):
   1. It will demonstrate the performance of the Crew Escape System of the Gaganyaan project. 
   2. The flight will be the first of two abort missions to test the safety mechanisms that will allow the Gaganyaan crew to leave the spacecraft in an emergency.
   3. The test exercise will see the rocket rise to an altitude of almost 17 km before an abort signal is triggered.
   4. This will lead to separation of the crew module, which will descend using a parachute for a splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.
   5. The test mission will last a total 532 seconds from liftoff to the crew module splashdown about 10 km from the Sriharikota coast.
   6. The crew module will be empty for the test.
2. What will be tested?

1. 1. The TV-D1 flight will demonstrate the new Test Vehicle
   2. It will demonstrate a basic version of the crew module which is the capsule in which the astronauts will be seated during the Gaganyaan human space flight.
   3. The functioning of systems for separating the crew module from the rocket in case of a mid-flight emergency (abort mission) and the escape of astronauts will be checked.

2. 4. This Test Vehicle will use existing liquid propulsion technology, but has innovations such as the throttleable and restartable L110 Vikas engine capable of controlling propellant use.
   5. ISRO will use the Test Vehicle for several concepts that are under development, including the Scramjet engine technology for re-usable space launch vehicles.

3. Crew Escape System:

a. Soyuz MS 10 mission of Russia registered the first mid-flight failure of a Soyuz rocket since 1975 and later and the two astronauts aboard the mission, Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos and Nick Hague of NASA, landed on Earth.

b. ISRO has a crew module which shall have the specifications of:

1. safe for astronauts under conditions of very high heat and pressure
2. Reliable escape mechanism in the event of an emergency
3. environmental control and life support systems 
4. integrated vehicle health management system