Thiruvananthapuram: The successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 mission has given a major boost to the ambitious Gaganyaan mission, India's first human spaceflight programme.
ISRO's dream project Gaganyaan is currently undergoing a G-level series of experiments. By the end of August or beginning of September, a Crew Escape System will be installed and tested. The Crew Escape System is an important element of the mission, scientists from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram said.
Also, four trainee astronauts have been selected for the mission from the Indian Air Force and are currently undergoing training at Bengaluru, scientists added.
The experiments termed 'G' level series has been named after Gaganyaan and will be conducted in several stages. According to scientists there will be seven stages of tests that would be conducted at the G-level. As part of which, rockets will be tested in space. After completing the G-level testing and passing the trials of the H-level, ISRO will start preparing for the real Gaganyaan mission, scientists said.
Research activities in this regard are in progress at various ISRO centers as well. "The Gaganyaan mission is at its initial phase now. The mission aims to send humans within 400 km of the Earth and bring them back safely. Gaganyaan will use the same LVM 3 M4 rocket that has been used to launch Chandrayaan-3," Dr S. Unnikrishnan Nair, director of VSSC said in Thiruvananthapuram.
As human lives are involved in Gaganyaan mission, ISRO is focusing more on safety. Experiments are underway to develop a system to safely send humans into space and bring them back. A Crew Escape System will be added to the launch vehicle for this. The Crew Escape System is a specialised system installed on a rocket that lifts the astronauts in space. The system aims to save astronauts in case of any failure.
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The rocket which was used for previous launches of satellites did not have such system. "As human lives are involved, more reliability is needed. Thus, it requires many trials and experiments. Only after clearing several rounds of checks and being certain that there is no error, ISRO will proceed to the next step," Nair said.
