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Gaganyaan: If something goes wrong seconds before launch. . .

Gaganyaan is scheduled for 2022 and three astronauts have also been selected for the mission.

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New Delhi, Oct 25: Gaganyaan is India's first-ever human spaceflight mission and undoubtedly the most challenging project the ISRO has ever undertaken. ISRO would be aiming to showcase the ability to develop technologies to launch humans into space which only three countries have done so far.

 Chandrayaan-2 lifts off onboard GSLV Mk III-M1 launch vehicle

Chandrayaan-2 lifts off onboard GSLV Mk III-M1 launch vehicle

Gaganyaan is scheduled for 2022 and three astronauts have also been selected for the mission. The only Indian to have entered the space is Rakesh Sharma which was in 1984 aboard the Russian space mission Soyuz 11.

[What ISRO stands to gain from Gaganyaan?][What ISRO stands to gain from Gaganyaan?]

Critical technologies that the ISRO must perfect are the capability of module re-entering the earth, a crew escape system, configured crew modules and a thermal protection system, mastered deceleration and flotation systems, and built sub-systems of life support required to survive in space.

A view of the first Moon image captured by Chandrayaan 2

A view of the first Moon image captured by Chandrayaan 2

All these technologies are complex and present a big technological challenge. Our focus here is on the crew escape mechanism which is extremely vital. The crew escape system is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort.

If something goes wrong at any point during the launch, then there has to be a way for the crew to escape so that lives can be saved.

ISRO chief K Sivan

ISRO chief K Sivan

The mechanism ensures the crew module gets an advance warning of anything going wrong with the rocket, and pulls it away to a safe distance, after which it can be landed either on sea or on land with the help of attached parachutes. The system is typically controlled by a combination of automatic rocket failure detection, and a manual backup for the crew commander's use.

[In what way is Gaganyaan far more complex than Chandrayaan-2?][In what way is Gaganyaan far more complex than Chandrayaan-2?]

ISRO in July last year carried out the first in a series of tests to qualify a crew escape system. According to the ISRO, the five-hour countdown was smooth.

ISRO control room, Shriharikota

ISRO control room, Shriharikota

The crew escape system along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonnes, lifted off at 7 am at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The test was over in 259 seconds, during which the crew escape system along with crew module soared skyward, then arced out over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to Earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota.

When crew escape system saved lives:

There has only been one occurrence of a launch escape system being used during an active mission: In 1983, the crew of the Soviet Soyuz T-10-1 were carried away from their launch vehicle via their LES two seconds before the launch vehicle exploded due to a pad fire. The crew survived.'

<strong>[What ISRO stands to gain from Gaganyaan?]</strong>[What ISRO stands to gain from Gaganyaan?]

In 2018, the crew of Soyuz MS-10 separated from their launch vehicle after a booster rocket separation failure occurred at an altitude of 50 km during the ascent. However, at this point in the mission, the LES had already been ejected and was not used to separate the crew capsule from the rest of the launch vehicle.

Backup motors were utilized to separate the crew capsule resulting in the crew landing safely and uninjured approximately 19 minutes after launch.

What is the 'Apollo 1 disaster':

Planned as the first low Earth orbital test of the Apollo command and service module with a crew, to launch on February 21, 1967, the mission never flew; a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27 killed all three crew members. Apollo was the name of the program to land the first men on the Moon.

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