PM MODI DISCLOSES NAMES OF THE 4 ASTRONAUTS FOR ISRO’S GAGANYAAN MISSION: LATEST ADVANCEMENTS OF THE MISSION
- Ananya Sharma
- Feb 28, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2024
Hello, Everyone!
The names of the four astronauts who will fly to the lower –Earth orbit as a part of ISRO(Indian Space Research Organization) Gaganyaan, which in particular will be the first of its kind crewed space mission of India were announced on 27th Feb 2024, Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The names of the selected astronauts are:-
1. Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair,
2. Group Captain Angad Prathap,
3. Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, and
4. Wing Commander Shubanshu Shukla
They all are either wing commanders or group captains in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and in addition to that, all of them have vast experience working as test pilots, which signifies that they are already well trained to be proactive to respond in any problematic situation.
The announcement was made when PM Modi visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.PM Modi hails them and marks them as ”Four Forces” who represent the aspirations hopes and confidence of 1.4 billion Indians.
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The four astronauts went through extensive training at the space agency’s astronaut training facility in Bengaluru. At The IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine, the selection of the astronauts took place. Out of these four astronauts, only three of them will get an opportunity to be in space as members of the Gaganyaan mission.
MoU BETWEEN ISRO AND GLAVCOSMOS IN JUNE 2019:
In June 2019 a memorandum of understanding was inked between ISRO and Glavcosmos intended for training of the four astronauts. Glavcosmos is a subsidiary of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. The training of the four astronauts happened at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.
TRAINING BY AN AMERICAN SPACE AGENCY NASA :
In 2023, the head of America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Bill Nelson visited India to strengthen the India-U.S. space cooperation in outer space.
During his Delhi visit in 2023, Bill Nelson stated to train an Indian astronaut for a mission to ISS(International Space Station) by the end of 2024, who would probably be out of the four astronauts gearing up for the Gaganyaan mission.
The Gaganyaan Mission is ISRO’s first manned mission and it envisages launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400km for about 3 days mission and also to bring them back to Earth with extreme caution, by landing in Indian Sea Waters. Numerous tests have been conducted by the Indian space agency ISRO to prepare for the flight.
Now let’s have an overview of the Gaganyaan mission for a better understanding of the mission.
ABOUT GAGANYAAN MISSION:
The Gaganyaan Mission is ISRO’s first manned mission and it envisages launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400km for about 3 days mission and also to bring them back to Earth with extreme caution, by landing in Indian Sea Waters. Numerous tests have been conducted by the Indian space agency ISRO to prepare for the flight.
PREREQUISITES FOR GAGANYAAN MISSION:
The Gaganyaan mission essentially requires the development of vital technologies such as:
· Human-rated launch vehicle for taking crew members with safety to the space
· A Life Support System for provisioning an Earth-like environment to the crew in space
· Crew Emergency Exit will be provided to ensure an emergency exit if required. The CES or Crew Escape system is actually the emergency exit option for the crew in case of any emergency occurring either at the launch pad or during the time of the ascent phase. The crew module is essentially a capsule in which the astronauts will be seating themselves.
· Advancing crew management particularities needed for training, recovery, and rehabilitation of the crew
THE DEMONSTRATOR MISSIONS:
Numerous preliminary missions were planned for showcasing or we can say demonstrating the measure of technology preparedness before executing the actual Human Space Flight mission.
The missions which were demonstrated are:-
· AirDrop Test (IADT),
· Pad Abort Test (PAT) and
· Test Vehicle (TV) flights
HUMAN RATED LVM3 - HLVM3:
LMV3 ROCKET: It is a completely reliable and well-tested heavy lift launcher of ISRO, and is symbolized as the launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission. It has three stages namely solid stage, liquid stage, and cryogenic stage. The entire systems in the LVM3 launch vehicle are modified to meet the human requirements and designated or named as Human Rated LVM3. The HLVM3; will have the capability of launching the orbital module (OM), to a required low-Earth orbit of 400 km.
BREAKTHROUGH
The final tests on the cryogenic engine, known as CE20 were performed on 14 Feb 2024 and the engine passed the test successfully and was well-proven for missions that would take humans to space. The Vikas engine has qualified for the mission which will be leveraged in the liquid stage and its addition the solid booster, a part of the solid stage too has been certified for the mission.
Apart from this, the special flight engine, which ignites as the rocket lifts off, has also cleared the acceptance tests. These tests testify to the test performance of the hardware in tandem with the mission requirement. The technology is henceforth applied in the final mission.
ORBITAL MODULE (OM): It will be orbiting the Earth and it consists of two modules namely Crew Module (CM) and Service Module(SM). The orbital module is decked up with advanced avionics systems with requisite redundancy to serve as a backup for the main operating system having the exact replication of all extremely important components and functions, taking into account human safety.
CREW MODULE (CM): The Crew Module is a sustainable space having the environment just as Earth in space for the crew.
Features of Crew Module:
· It has a double-walled construction with having pressurized metallic Inner Structure and an unpressurized External Structure with a Thermal Protection System (TPS).
· It encases features such as crew interfaces, human-centric products, life support systems, avionics, and deceleration systems.
· The most unique part is it is designed for re-entry as well to affirm the safety of the crew during the time of descent till touchdown.
SERVICE MODULE(SM):
Its function is to provide the requisite support to Crew Module CM so long as CM is in orbit. Being an unpressurized structure it contains the thermal system, propulsion system, power systems, avionics systems as well as the deployment mechanisms.
On July 19,2023 the ISRO tested the Gaganyaan Service Module Propulsion System (SMPS) which provides adequate support to the Crew Module. Tests were conducted at the ISRO Propulsion Complex stationed in Mahendragiri, Odisha. Through the test five liquid apogee motors (LAM) with 440 Newtons of thrust and sixteen reaction control systems (RCS) with a thrust of 100 Newtons were validated.
ISRO’S MAJOR PLANS:
ISRO envisions setting up its very own space station - 'Bharatiya Antariksha Station' by 2035. The second target is to send the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.
GAGANYAAN-1 MISSION:
Numerous preliminary missions were planned for showcasing or we can say demonstrating the measure of technology preparedness before executing the actual Human Space Flight mission.
The preliminary mission such as Gaganyaan -1 will be an unmanned demonstrator mission to test the technology soundness for the final mission which will be the first manned mission.
The Gaganyaan Mission is ISRO’s first manned mission and it envisages launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400km for about 3 days mission and also to bring them back to Earth with extreme caution, by landing in Indian Sea Waters.
The Crew Module of Gaganyaan-1 will be unpressurized and also will abstain from Environment Control and Life Support System which is needed for the sustainability of the human-centric final mission. ISRO is as of now developing and testing many components of the system at its labs.
A pressurized Crew Module will be leveraged in the second unmanned flight. The second unmanned flight will test the entire Life Support System. The interesting part is that this flight will take a robot named as VYOMMITRA, to measure all the parameters for studying the influence of flight on people. The timeline for these missions is not finalized by far.
The initial test of the basic crew module and crew escape system (CES) occurred in October previous year. The CES or Crew Escape system is actually the emergency exit option for the crew in case of any emergency occurring either at the launch pad or during the time of the ascent phase.
The crew module is essentially a capsule in which the astronauts will be seating themselves.
The test also featured the success of the positioning of the drogue chute –a conical ribbon-type parachute having a diameter of 19 feet(5.8 meters) consisting of mortar. These have a vital role in having the Gaganyaan crew module back to the ground with utmost safety as well as in stabilizing the spacecraft and mitigating its velocity during its re-entry to the atmosphere.
They help bring the crew module from an altitude of 17 km and a speed of 150 meters/ second to 2.5 km from the sea surface and a speed of 63 meters/ sec.
Various experiments have been conducted by ISRO with a crew module uprighting system which helps to make sure the module stays standing while plunging into the sea.
TRAINING OF THE ASTRONAUTS:
The Scientists are for the time being undergoing training at ISRO’s Astronaut Training Facility stationed at Bengaluru, we can say Regular training. They are presently trained on subsystems and working on many subsystem simulators.
Thank You.
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