Gaganyaan

  • IASbaba
  • January 26, 2022
  • 0
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Gaganyaan

Part of: Prelims and Mains GS-III: Awareness in the field of Space – Space Missions

  • India’s 1st Human spaceflight programme to be launched by 2023.
  • It will include two unmanned flights to be launched in December 2020 and July 2021 and one human space flight to be launched in December 2021.
  • It will carry 3 astronauts to a low earth orbit of 300 to 400 kilometres on board GSLV Mark III vehicle, for at least 7 days.
  • It will make India the 4th country to send manned mission after the Russia, USA and China.

Components of Gaganyaan

  • Mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
  • Rocket: GSLV Mk-III, also called the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3,) the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle
  • Gaganyaan system module, called the Orbital Module – will circle Earth at a low-earth-orbit at an altitude of 300-400 km from earth for 5-7 days
  • The payload:
    • Crew module – spacecraft carrying human beings.
    • Service module – powered by two liquid propellant engines.
  • The crew members will be selected by the IAF and ISR.
  • Crew will perform micro-gravity and other scientific experiments for a week.

Crew Module Atmospheric Re-Entry Technology – Care

  • Satellites that are launched for communication or remote sensing are meant to remain in space. However, a manned spacecraft needs to come back.
  • While re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft needs to withstand very high temperatures created due to friction.
  • A prior critical experiment was carried out in 2014 along with GSLV MK-III when the CARE (Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment) capsule successfully demonstrated that it could survive atmospheric re-entry.

Potential of this mission

  • Employment generation of around 15,000.
  • Technological advancement will enhance India’s standing in the world given only few countries have achieved this feat (USA, Russia, China)
  • Inspire nation’s youth to take up scientific research. Can even attract foreign talent.
  • Increase foreign investment in the field leading to better infrastructure.
  • Using ‘space’ as a tool in foreign policy and diplomacy.
  • Bringing in innovative transportation systems.
  • Resources to mankind: The ISRO is looking to tap Helium which is present in abundance on the Moon through its future missions which will be very useful for clean nuclear power generation.
  • Technological spin-offs from the mission to have positive impact on various sectors like telecom, power.

Other upcoming Missions by ISRO

  • RICAT-1A PSLV C5-2 scheduled for February 2022
  • OCEANSAT-3
  • INS 2B ANAND PSLV C-53 to be launched in March 2022
  • SSLV-D1 Micro SAT in April 2022

News Source: PIB

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