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ISRO To Carry Out First Gaganyaan Test Flight : 21 October

ISRO will carry out the first of several test flights ahead of the Gaganyaan mission on October 21, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said. The test vehicle development flight...

ISRO will carry out the first of several test flights ahead of the Gaganyaan mission on October 21, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said. The test vehicle development flight (TV-D1) will be conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh to test the crew module that is scheduled to house Indian astronauts during the human spaceflight late next year.

ISRO To Carry Out First Gaganyaan Test Flight : 21 October

Why In News

  • ISRO will carry out the first of several test flights ahead of the Gaganyaan mission on October 21, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said.
  • The test vehicle development flight (TV-D1) will be conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh to test the crew module that is scheduled to house Indian astronauts during the human spaceflight late next year.
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About The Gaganyaan Project

  • With the Gaganyaan mission, ISRO hopes to demonstrate its human spaceflight capabilities by launching three astronauts to a 400-kilometre orbit for a period of three days and then bringing them back safely to Earth.
  •  Gaganyaan is significant because it is the first indigenous mission that will send Indian astronauts to space. If it succeeds, India will be the fourth country to have sent a human to space.
  •  Currently, the United States, Russia and China are the only three countries with the capability to launch public human space missions. Of course, there are also private companies like SpaceX that have already proven their crewed mission launch capabilities.
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What Does The Test Involve

  • The Gaganyaan Test Vehicle Development flight (TV-D1) will be the first among two sets of trial flights that the Indian Space Research Organisation has planned before an Indian astronaut will fly to space – in an Indian craft sitting atop an Indian an Indian rocket.
  •  The test involves launching the module to outer space, bringing it back to earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal.
  • The Navy has already started mock operations to recover the module, Singh said at a felicitation programme of the ISRO engineers involved in the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L-1 missions.
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Crew Module & Crew Escape System

  • The Gaganyaan mission’s crew module will be where the astronauts will be staying during the mission with pressurised Earth-like conditions.
  • But TV-D1 will be testing an unpressurised version of the crew module that is now ready to be shipped to the launch complex.
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  • The unpressurised version has the same overall size and mass as the actual module, and it houses all the same systems for deceleration and recovery.
  • It has a complete set of parachutes and has recovery aids, actuation systems, and pyros. The avionics systems in the crew modules are in a “dual redundant mode” configuration to provide navigation, sequencing telemetry, instrumentation and power.
  • Along with the crew module, the TV-D1 will also test the “crew escape” system that is expected to bring back the crew to earth if the spacecraft faces a problem while ascending into space.
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Significance of the test

  • The Success Of Test Will Set Stage For First Unmanned “Gaganyaan” Mission And Ultimately, A Manned Mission To Outer Space In A Low-earth Orbit.
  • Before Ultimate Manned “Gaganyaan” Mission, There Will Be A Test Flight Next Year, Which Will Carry “Vyommitra”, A Female Robot Astronaut.
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