Is India capable of sending humans to space ? - Gaganyaan Mission

 Is India capable of sending humans to space? - Gaganyaan Mission

Gaganyaan Spacecraft

            Let's take a look a what ISRO has been doing to launch its gaganyaan mission. It will be launched on top of a GSLV rocket.

            Gaganyaan is a human spaceflight mission intended to be the first done by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). 

            This mission will take Indian astronauts (also called Vyomanauts) on an ambitious trip to space. 

            This will make India only the fourth country to launch astronauts into space only after United States, Russia, and China. 

            This entire mission is done on a 1.34 billion dollar budget.

Spacecraft

Space Capsule

            The gaganyaan capsule has the capacity to take about 3 astronauts into space. This has two modules, the crew module, and the Service module. 

            The Crew module will stay as their habitat for their whole mission. 

            The gaganyaan mission components are manufactured by DRDO, HAL, and ISRO. It has a volume of about 8m³. 

            This space capsule will have various life support systems designed to protect the astronauts.

         The astronauts will be in their spacesuits specifically designed by ISRO. It has one oxygen cylinder enabling the astronaut to breathe for about 60 minutes. 

            This crew capsule has a launch mass of about 8.2 tons, which is why this is carried by GSLV Mk-III rocket.

Launch Vehicle

            The launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III is a three-stage medium-lift rocket developed by ISRO. 

            This gslv launch vehicle has the capacity to take about 10 tons to Low Earth orbit. 

            It is similar in comparison to ULA’s Atlas V and SpaceX’s Falcon 9. 

            It also has two solid boosters on the side to provide the necessary lift. This launcher is the one that took Chandrayaan 2 to the moon. 

            This rocket will be used in upcoming Gaganyaan missions as well.

Timeline

Mission	Date	Type	Info	Result
Re-entry test	December 2014	Sub-orbital	Test of Gaganyaan’s heat shield	Success
Pad-abort Test	July 2018	Atmospheric	Abort test of SDSC	Success
Gaganyaan 1	December 2021	LEO	Unmanned first orbital flight	Planned
Gaganyaan 2	2022	LEO	Unmanned Second Orbital flight	Planned
Gaganyaan 3	2023	LEO	Crewed first flight	Planned

            As said above , Gaganyaan Re-entry test and Pad- abort test were done successfully. Also due to the covid 19 pandemic, the date for Gaganyaan 1 may be delayed to 2022.

Launch Procedure

            In Gaganyaan 3, after liftoff from Satish Dhavan Space  Centre; the crew capsule will take about 16 minutes to reach Low Earth Orbit. 

            Then the space capsule will be stationed at 300-400km in  Low Earth Orbit. The solar panels get deployed and the crew conducts experiments on the capsule. They will spend about 7 days in space. 

            During re-entry, the solar panels and the service module are disposed of and burn up in the atmosphere. 

            The capsule comes through the atmosphere with hard aerobraking using the heat shield. Then the parachute gets deployed slowing the spacecraft from 216m/s to 11m/s. It would most probably land on the Arabian Sea.

Crew

            A group of four soldiers from the Air Force were selected and send to Russia’s  ROSCOSMOS Human Spaceflight Centre in order to train as astronauts. From this 3 astronauts will be selected for Gaganyaan Mission. The Name of these astronauts is yet to be announced. ISRO also said that there will be a female-looking robot called Vyommitra who will also join their flight.

Spacesuit developed by Russia

Experiments onboard

Experiments proposed to be on the Space Capsule

·         Astro Biology

·         Space Medicine

·         Fluid and Materials

·         Fundamental Physics

·         Life Sciences in Space

·         Life support

·         Biowaste management

·         Space Hazards in LEO

·         Sensor

·         Space to Ground Communication

The experiment opportunity is offered to International Community.

That said, India is far more than capable to launch humans into space. Their gslv launch vehicle has a hundred per cent success rate.

What do you think about Indian crewed Spaceflight? Will it succeed?

Tell us in the comments

Also Read: Can ISRO beat NASA by 2030?

Why ISRO's SSLV rocket could be the most affordable rocket in the world?