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This aborted mission is a success
News:
- Recently, ISRO has taken a step forward towards sending Indian’s to space by conducting the first ‘pad abort’ test.
Important facts:
2. The test was conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
3. The test proves that the agency can bail out future astronauts with their capsule in case of an early danger to them at the launch pad.
4. A 1,260 kg crew module lifted off propelled by seven complex rockets built unconventionally around it.
5. It reached a height of 2.7 km and curved down into the Bay of Bengal.
6. It landed in the sea at a distance of 2.9 km from the launch centre.
7. The model was retrieved later by three boats.
8. The Pad Abort Test(PAT) demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency at the launch pad.
9. PAT is a major technology demonstrator and the first in a series of tests to qualify a larger Crew Escape System of the future.
10. During the test, the teams from various centres tried out five new technologies such as those related to wireless satellite communication, navigation, Ka-band altimeter and telemetry.
11. Nearly 300 sensors recorded various functional aspects. More technology trials related to astronaut safety would be taken up later.
12. The escape mechanism activated when it sensed something wrong in the health of the mission or module.
13. The rockets powered by fast-acting solid fuels quickly eject the crew and the module.
14. Each of the seven motors that powered the crew module had a different role and worked in sequence- at low altitude, high altitude, for pitching the module away.
15. The U.S., Russia and China have already sent human missions as part of its research and development activities.
