Chennai: India's heaviest and next generation
rocket-Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mark III) carrying a crew
module was launched by ISRO today.
Though called a crew module, it did not carry
any living being and is being sent up only to test its re-entry
characteristics.
Before the launch, M. Y.S. Prasad, director of
the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, told IANS over
phone, "The countdown for the rocket launch has just started. Everything
relating to the rocket launch is clear. The rocket launch is slated for
Thursday at 9.30 a.m."
The 630 tonne rocket will be powered by liquid
and solid fuel engines while the cryogenic stage/engine will be a passive one.
During the countdown, the rocket's liquid fuel engine will be fuelled up and
the passive cryogenic engine at the top will be filled with liquid nitrogen for
mass simulation, Prasad said.
Earlier speaking to IANS, Prasad
said the rocket's electronic systems would be switched on around 1 am on
Thursday. The actual cryogenic engine to power the rocket carrying an around
four tonne satellite is under development and is expected to be ready in two
years time. As the other rocket engines are ready, ISRO decided to have this
mission.
ISRO is set to launch India's heaviest rocket,
GSLV-Mark III today. Image from ISRO
The experimental mission will cost Rs.155
crore and will not carry any satellite as the cryogenic engine needed for the
purpose is under development, Prasad reiterated. As to the crew module, it will
not carry any living being and was only for study purposes.
The main objective of the crew module is to
demonstrate its re-entry flight and aero braking; end-to-end parachute system
validation. The rocket will go up to 126 km and then crew capsule will be
detached and it will fall into the Bay of Bengal, 20 minutes after blast off.
The descent speed of the crew module will be
controlled on board motors for some distance and then by three parachutes. The
module will splash down 600 km from Port Blair and 1,600 km from the space
centre. The capsule will be recovered by an Indian Coast Guard or Indian Navy
ship.
The crew module, looking like a giant-size cup
cake - black in colour on top and brown at the bottom - weighs around four
tonnes. According to an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official, it
will be in the size of a small bedroom and can accommodate 2-3 people.
"The crew module after being recovered
from the sea will first be taken to the Ennore Port (near here) and from there
it will be brought to Sriharikota. From Sriharikota the module will be taken to
VSSC (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre-Thiruvananthapuram)," Prasad said.
