AMN / WEB DESK
ISRO launched test flight of the Gaganyaan mission on Saturday at Sriharikota. As the Indian Space Agency is set to commence human space missions in the future, the Unmanned flight test today is the preparation for it. The flight test vehicle abort mission will demonstrate the performance of the Crew Escape system through the Gaganyaan mission.
Gaganyaan was successfully launched at 10 a.m. after three holds. The vehicle was launched from the first launch pad of the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota exactly at 10 a.m. After nine minutes, the mission crew module successfully splashed in the Bay of Bengal, ten kilometres away from Sriharikota. The Indian Navy was stationed at the destined place for the recovery of the module. The module was retrieved by Naval divers and was taken to a Naval ship. It will be brought to Madras Harbour on Saturday.
Addressing after the launch, Chairman ISRO Somanath said that all the parameters and sequences performed normally as per the plan. He said that the flight demonstrated that the crew could exit safely in case of any malfunction. The splash down on the sea also was tested for the safety of the astronauts undertaking the space journey. He said that the abort condition was successful. He said that the velocity and the speed-accuracy in which the landing was done was remarkable. Somanath said that the launch was scheduled originally at eight a.m. and was rescheduled for 8:30 a.m. due to weather-related issues. He said that the launch sequence was put on hold by the computer and later it was found to be a monitoring anomaly. The Chairman said that they had refilled the gases and checked the health of the vehicle after which the launch process was restarted at 10 a.m. Mr. Somanath said that the comeback was made as fast as possible. He said that the entire team was prepared for the Gaganyaan launch in future.
The Director of the mission Sivakumar said that on recovery of the module, details will be checked. The Mission Executive R. Hutton said that there were no words to explain the success of the launch. He said that all three experiments were remarkable and ISRO was successful in its very first mission.
The Director of the crew escape mission said that today’s experience was a Milestone and motivation for all those working on the Gaganyaan mission. He said he was more than happy to test the safety of the crew for being successful and endorsed that it was a robust and reliable vehicle. The Indian Navy coordinated the recovery of the crew module. Director Unnikrishnan Nair said that the crew module and the ten parachutes attached to the ten motors were all working perfectly.