CHENNAI: A "registration of intent" to send an Indian astronaut into space on a home-made space capsule using an Indian launch vehicle from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh was made before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on October 17. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair made a brief slide presentation on the possibility of sending an Indian astronaut into space.

"The Prime Minister did not say anything adverse. But no decision was taken at that meeting whether to go or not to go," said informed ISRO scientists. "We are yet to go through a presentation to members of the Space Commission or the scientific community. Things will be firmed up in another three to six months."

A press release from the Prime Minister's Office on October 18 said: "The Prime Minister reviewed India's space and atomic energy programmes on October 17. Detailed presentations were made by the Chairmen of the Space Commission and the Atomic Energy Commission... The possibility of the Department [of Space] developing a manned space programme was also discussed."

A small step towards sending an Indian astronaut into space on an indigenous space capsule will be taken in December 2006/January 2007 when a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota puts in orbit a recoverable satellite weighing around 550 kg. ISRO has named it Space Capsule Recovery Experiment. After the SRE stays in orbit for some days, ISRO scientists will bring it back in a planned manner so that it enters the atmosphere without burning up and touches down in the sea with parachutes and flotation systems. In orbit, the SRE will perform experiments in micro-gravity.

The SRE will be an important step towards ISRO mastering the complex re-entry technology. "The re-entry technologyis a must for our manned spacecraft. When the SRE descends from space and re-enters the earth's atmosphere, how we are going to maintain the orientation of the spacecraft is important because we have to exchange speed for heat," said the ISRO scientists.

For, when a spacecraft bearing an astronaut re-enters the atmosphere, it will lose speed due to friction from the atmosphere but gain enormous heat. So the capsule should be plastered with composite-tiles to prevent it from burning up when it slices into the atmosphere.

The reliability rating has to be very high for a manned space mission. "We are sending a man into space and we have to bring him back safely. So you cannot afford to have any failure. If you lose a satellite, you can build another one. If you lose an astronaut in space, the country's prestige and confidence will be eroded," the scientists said

Key ingredients

Essential to a manned mission are the re-entry technology; life-support systems; an ejection system in case of an emergency; setting up facilities for training astronauts; creating a corps of astronauts; and building the recovery systems for the space capsule.

The proposed manned mission may cost about Rs.20,000 crore. According to ISRO rocket engineers, the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) now available or GSLV-mark III under development will do for the mission. "If the Government gives the go-ahead and all the money needed, we can send an Indian astronaut into space in five to ten years," they said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail