ISRO gears up for critical crew rescue test

[ashok321]

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...-critical-crew-rescue-test/article9194536.ece

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to conduct a critical ‘crew bailout test’ to see how fast and effectively the crew module of an intended space mission could punch out from the spacecraft safely in the event of an emergency.

The test, known as Pad Abort, will be held at the launch pad of Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) in a month or two, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director K. Sivan told The Hindu in an interaction on the sidelines of the ongoing expo in connection with the World Space Week celebrations at Ernakulathappan ground here.

The test forms part of a gamut of critical technologies being developed by the space agency as it awaits the nod from the government for the ambitious ‘human in space’ programme.

“While the overall aim is to master the technology that aims at rescuing the crew if a launch is aborted at any stage, the present test will try out the scenario of aborting a launch at the pad itself,” he said.

As regards the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD), he said the first flight of the technology demonstrator vehicle in May saw it climb up to an altitude of 70 km at the rate of two km per second. The aim now would be to scale up to 200 km at a speed of seven km per second.

The ISRO was trying out measures to optimise launches and slash the costs incurred by using cost-effective material for launch vehicle manufacture and bringing about changes in the manufacturing process, besides increasing the capability of the launch vehicle. One such measure would be the use of electric propulsion system on satellites for station-keeping and orbital manoeuvre, which would enable transport of heavier payloads as chemical propellants could be done away with at this stage.

The ISRO, he said, planned to achieve this capability in a couple of years. The stage test of semi-cryogenic engine for the GSLV-Mark III would be flight-tested in December.

On India’s satellite constellation for navigation, known as Navic (Navigation with Indian Constellation), he said all the seven satellites part of the constellation were up and functioning.

 

[Ali Zadi]

Seems ISRO is serious about using this tiny little thing as the main space capsule for the time being. If that is true it would be the smallest space capsule among the rest of the modern capsules, to give an visual example:

With the tejas and now this its clear India sees a future in going small

 

[indo]

Seems ISRO is serious about using this tiny little thing as the main space capsule for the time being. If that is true it would be the smallest space capsule among the rest of the modern capsules, to give an visual example:

With the tejas and now this its clear India sees a future in going small

http://www.astronautix.com/n/newgenerationcrewed.html
Please read the article associated with the image.
Especially this part :Indian manned spacecraft. Design of an Indian manned spacecraft began in October 2006. Dependent on a full funding decision at the end of 2008, planned first flight of the two-man capsule atop a GSLV-II booster was 2015. This initial design was succeeded by a much larger design to be lofted by the GSLV-III launch vehicle.

Note that the time lines have shifted since the gslv mk 2 test in 2010 failed.

 

[Ali Zadi]

http://www.astronautix.com/n/newgenerationcrewed.html
Please read the article associated with the image.

Yes I already know that but I wanted to show some visual context the new capsule used in CARE is still on the smaller side and when I said that its the smallest of all the new capsules I was correct.

 

[ni8mare]

Seems ISRO is serious about using this tiny little thing as the main space capsule for the time being. If that is true it would be the smallest space capsule among the rest of the modern capsules, to give an visual example:

With the tejas and now this its clear India sees a future in going small

 

[Ali Zadi]

View attachment 341469

One is a Reentry Capsule the other is a Orbital+RE Capsule

 

[Hindustani78]

View attachment 341469

This one from Ukraine .

Dnipro city (ex-Dnipropetrovsk) where he visited Pivdennyi Machine Building plant and Pivdenne Design Bureau. He also toured Pavlohrad Machine Building in the framework of this working travel.

 

[Hindustani78]

View attachment 341469

This one from United States.

Reuters / Thursday, October 13, 2016
President Barack Obama stands next to a space capsule during a tour of the innovation projects at the White House Frontiers conference in Pittsburgh, U.S. October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=97545

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- Amphibious transport dock USS San Diego (LPD 22) successfully completed recovery operations of the NASA Orion crew module Nov. 1.

The Underway Recovery Test-5 (URT-5) is part of a U.S. government interagency effort to safely retrieve the Orion crew module which is capable of carrying humans into deep space.

This marks the second time a URT has taken place aboard San Diego. Lessons learned from previous recovery tests and Exploration Flight Test-1 are being used to improve the recovery process and ensure the combined NASA and Navy team will be able to safely and successfully recover the Orion capsule following its flight for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) in 2018.

"For me it was a lot of fun being part of the testing because I was onboard this ship when we did the first URT and took the test capsule out to sea in February 2014," said San Diego Commanding Officer Capt. Carl W. Meuser. "On that trip, these smart folks from NASA were able to collect data and understand the environment much better, and they designed systems accordingly. So it's been fun for me to see the progression of NASA's project from the first time we went to sea together, to this very successful testing that we just finished."

With their main role of conducting amphibious operations, San Antonio-class ships have many unique capabilities that make them an ideal partner to support NASA. The most important capability was the ability to recover the test capsule using the ship's well deck, which was originally designed to launch and recover amphibious craft. San Diego also has the ability to carry and deploy multiple small boats which aid in the recovery process and contains an advanced medical facility for the returning astronauts.

URT-5 testing consisted of launching the test capsule from the well deck, then carefully maneuvering the ship alongside the capsule at slow speed. Then, divers attached lines from the small boats to steady and guide the capsule toward San Diego, where a NASA-designed winch hauled the capsule into the well deck.

"It's very challenging; what seems like a basic recovery is anything but," said Chief Petty Officer Beau Lontine, a Navy diver assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3. "It's a very high-risk evolution, especially when the capsule is being towed behind the ship, and that's where our inputs to the equipment that they've designed for this come into play. That's what we do; we work with rigging and hardware and we do build-up and training to get to the point of recovering the capsule."

The test allowed NASA and the Navy to continue to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in real, open ocean environment before conducting actual recovery operations for EM-1 and with additional coordination, subsequent exploration missions.

"This was a proof-of-concept URT, which means we were testing hypotheses that we had developed over the last year, along with some prototype hardware," said NASA's Landing and Recovery Director, Melissa Jones. "I'm happy to say that it was very successful and we have a lot of data going forward to figure out what our next test will be."

According to Jones, the next test will take place aboard another seasoned NASA recovery ship, USS Anchorage (LPD 23). Future tests will eventually get NASA and the Navy to arrive at a safe and more efficient way to recover the capsule for the 2021 mission involving a flying crew.

The Orion spacecraft is designed to meet the evolving needs of our nation's deep space exploration program for decades to come. It will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

PACIFIC OCEAN (Oct. 30, 2016) The amphibious transport dock USS San Diego (LPD 22) prepares to tow a test capsule called the boilerplate-testing article, belonging to NASA's Orion Program, in the Pacific Ocean. The ship is conducting recovery operations with NASA's Orion program; they are testing a new towing technique utilizing NASA and naval technology with the goal of reducing manning and increasing safety. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Torrey W. Lee/Released)

PACIFIC OCEAN (Oct. 30, 2016) Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Mead, a Navy diver assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 and Mobile Dive and Salvage Company 3-1, conducts towing operations and safety procedures for the test capsule called the boilerplate-testing article (BTA), belonging to NASA's Orion program, in the Pacific Ocean. NASA is testing the BTA with help from the USS San Diego (LPD 22) utilizing NASA and Naval technology with the goal of reducing manning and increasing safety. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Alfred A. Coffield/Released)

 

[$@rJen]

Seems ISRO is serious about using this tiny little thing as the main space capsule for the time being. If that is true it would be the smallest space capsule among the rest of the modern capsules, to give an visual example:

With the tejas and now this its clear India sees a future in going small

I don't know why u r smiling! ! Its crazy.. but that one was small because it was for experiment the real one will be much bigger than that

 

[K210]

According to some tenders they are converting a old sounding rocket pad at sriharikota for pad abort tests