Gaganyaan mission : Launch of first unmanned flight test success

Sriharikota(AP) |Oct, 21 :After an initial technical glitch, the India’s Space Odyssey took a giant leap forward on Saturday when the first unmanned developmental Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) to demonstrate the crew escape system for the Gaganyaan programme
was successfully accomplished from the SHAR Range here. “TV D1 Test Flight is accomplished. Crew Escape System performed as intended”, ISRO said. “Mission Gaganyaan gets off on a successful note”, it added. This critical phase marked the beginning of preparations, heralding the first step closer to India’s first Human Space Mission as it comes in the backdrop
of the successful launch of the third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 that soft landed in the Moon’s South Polar Region and the Solar exploratory Adiitya-L1 mission spacecraft.
After a smooth 12.5 hr countdown that began at 7.30 pm on Friday night, the
TV-DI just failed to take off from the First Launch Pad at 0845 hrs after a 45 minute delay (due to inclement weather conditions) as the engines did not get ignitedand fresh dates would be announced soon after rectifying the anomaly
ISRO Chairman Dr S.Somanath earlier in the day said the mission was called off as the engine did not get ignite with just five secs before the lift off after the Automatic Launch Sequence was initiated. However, the anomaly was quickly identified and rectified and the mission took place and accomplished successfully.
Announcing the mission’s success later, Dr Somanath said: “The TV-D1 mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system for Gaganyaan.” He said the parachutes opened and the crew module touch down on the Bay of Bengal at the required velocity. The crew module will be recovered from the sea by the Indian Navy ship and brought to the Chennai Port. The Indian space agency will then study the data.
On the initial glitch, he said owing to the weather and poor visibility conditions the launch, which was originally scheduled at 8 a.m., was postponed to 8.45 a.m.
And just five seconds before the lift off from the first launch pad, the computer systems held back the rocket from lifting off due to a non-conformance in the system. Dr Somanath said, the issue was identified and sorted out quickly.
The rocket was filled with gases and then the mission took place and accomplished successfully as planned, he added.
The launch of the short duration mission lasted 531 secs (about nine minutes). After identifying the anomaly, Dr Somanath said TV-D1 rocket took off from the first launch pad here at 10 a.m. and the whole mission was completed in about nine minutes. “It was a big training for the Gaganyaan mission,” he said. The entire flight sequence — from the test rocket’s lift off to the crew module touchdown at the sea with the deployment of parachutes – took about nine minutes.
This flight test marked a major milestone in the overall Gaganyaan programme–which will be India’s first manned mission to space–and was aimed at definining the in-flight abort demonstraton of Crew Escape System (CES) at Mach Number 1.2 with the newly developed Test Vehicle followed by Crew Module Separation and Recovery.
The objective of the mission is Flight demonstration and evaluation of Test Vehicle sub systems, Crew Escape System including various separation systems and Crew Module characteristics & deceleration systems demonstration at higher altitude and its recovery, ISRO said.
The 35 m tall Liquid Propelled Single Stage Test Vehicle, weighing about 44 ton, used a modified Vikas engine with 4,520 kg Crew Module (CM)– a single walled unpressurised aluminium structure– and CES mounted at its fore end.
“The entire flight sequence, right from lift off to the crew module touchdown at sea about 10 km from Sriharikota, with the deployment of parachutes, took 531 seconds as planned”, ISRO said. About 60 seconds after the lift off, the test vehicle — crew escape system got separated at an altitude of 11.7 km and another 30 seconds later, the CM-CES too got separated at an altitude of 16.7 km.
Subsequently, the abort sequence was executed autonomously commencing with the separation of CES and deployment of series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of the CM in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota, at a velocity of 8.5 m/s. “The CM splashed down In the sea at about 10 km from Sriharikota and it floated before it was recovered by the Indian Navy. The recovery ships reached the CM and a team of divers attached a buoy, hoisted it using a ship crane, and brought it to the shore, much to the delight of the ISRO scientists, marking the success of the first of the four developmental flights ahead of the manned mission in the second half of next year
Stating that the TV-D1 test flight has demonstrated the performance of the CES, ISRO said this was a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan programme as a near-complete system was integrated for the flight test. “The first unmanned test mission TV-D1 will be followed by three more test flights TV-D2, TV-D3 and TV-D4 to test the systems before the
maiden human flight mission”, ISRO Chairman S.Somanath said.
The test was intended to test the ‘crew module ’ or the part of vehicle where the Indian astronauts will be housed. The test involved launching the module to outer space and bringing it back to earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal.
The TV-D1 demonstrated the in-flight system. In manned missions “We have tested and ensured that the escape system has got a very high reliability…the escape system will be activated in transonic conditions, which is Mach 1.2 and demonstrated how the crew will be rescued”, ISRO said. If the spacecraft while ascending into space faces a problem, this escape system is expected to separate and bring the crew safely back to sea from where they will be picked by the Navy personnel.
The Gaganyaan mission is expected to take place in the second quarter of next year and it was affirmed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of the Mission with the officials of the Department of Space a couple of days back in New Delhi. The Test Vehicle is a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payloads consisted of the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters.
ISRO said this flight simulated the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission.
For the Test Vehicle Abort mission-1 (TV-D1), the CM is an unpressurised version. This unpressurised CM version has to have an overall size and mass of actual Gaganyaan CM. It houses all the systems for the deceleration and recovery.
With its complete set of parachutes, recovery aids actuation systems and pyros, the avionics systems in CM are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power.
The CM in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems.The Crew Module WAS recovered after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy.
The Gaganyaan Mission envisages launching a crew of two to three members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to the earth by facilitating the landing in Indian sea waters. The spacecraft mainly consists of Crew Module and Service Module. The CM structure, simulates the shape and size of the actual Gaganyaan crew module.
The Integrated Air Drop Test will be performed using an Indian Air Force helicopter by taking the Crew Module structure to an altitude of 3.6 to 4 km to validate the deceleration system (parachute pyro’s) performance. ISRO said the Gaganyaan mission project will be accomplished through an optimal strategy by considering inhouse expertise, experience of Indian industry, intellectual
capabilities of Indian academia and research institutions along with cutting edge technologies available with international agencies.
The pre-requisites for Gaganyaan mission include development of many critical technologies including human rated launch vehicle for carrying crew safely to space, Life Support System to provide an earth like environment to crew in space, crew emergency escape provision and evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew. It said various precursor missions are planned for demonstrating the Technology Preparedness Levels before carrying out the actual Human Space Flight mission. These demonstrator missions include Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT), Pad Abort Test (PAT) and Test Vehicle (TV) flights. Safety and reliability of all systems will be proven in unmanned missions preceding manned mission.
LVM3 rocket–the well proven and reliable heavy lift launcher of ISRO, will be the launch vehicle for Gaganyaan mission. It consists of solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage, which will have increased thrust of 22 tonnes. All systems in LVM3 launch vehicle are re-configured to meet human rating requirements and christened Human Rated LVM3. HLVM3 will be capable of launching the Orbital Module to an intended Low Earth Orbit of 400 km. HLVM3 consists of Crew Escape System (CES) powered by a set of quick acting, high burn rate solid motors which ensures that Crew Module along with crew is taken to a safe distance in case of any emergency either at launch pad or during ascent phase.