News Highlight
ISRO and Indian Navy conduct pivotal trials for The Gaganyaan mission.
Key Takeaway
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in collaboration with the Indian Navy, has completed a critical trial for the Gaganyaan human space travel programme.
- They conducted initial recovery testing of the Crew Module in the Navy’s Water Survival Test Facility (WSTF) in Kochi on February 6.
Gaganyaan mission
- About
- Gaganyaan is an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) project that will send a three-person crew into space for five to seven days.
- The Gaganyaan Mission is a self-sustaining mission that would send Indian astronauts into space.
- The term ‘Gaganyaan’ is taken from the Sanskrit word for a sky vehicle.
- The Mission aims to demonstrate human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the near future.
- Objectives
- To improve the country’s science, technology, and scientific attitude.
- These national programmes will also engage other institutes, academia, and industry.
- Encourage young people to take on scientific and technological challenges.
- Created technology for the benefit of society.
- Additional Human Resource Development.
- Make a plan for international cooperation and policy.
Significance of The Gaganyaan Mission
- Enhanced the country’s capability to create scientific human space exploration technology.
- The Gaganyaan Mission will aid in advancing low-cost human and robotic projects to explore the solar system and beyond.
- There is ample opportunity for job creation and human resource development in advanced science and research and development activities.
- This programme is regarded as a one-of-a-kind opportunity to inspire young people.
- It directs many students towards Science and Technology jobs promoting knowledge, Innovation, and Creativity.
- This programme will promote global security and international partnership by sharing goals and difficulties.
- Create a broad foundation for broadening academia.
Challenges Faced by Gaganyaan Mission
- The Gaganyaan must establish an atmosphere similar to Earth inside a limited volume to ensure an appropriate oxygen supply.
- In addition, comfortable temperature and humidity throughout the trip.
- Changing one gravity field to another harms physical bodies, affecting hand-eye and head-eye coordination.
- Isolation during the Gaganyaan Mission may cause sadness, weariness, and sleep disorders.
- Astronauts get more than 10 times the radiation that individuals do on Earth.
- It increases cancer risk and can potentially cause acute or chronic problems with the Central Nervous System.
- The danger of depressurising the crew module cabin in contact with micro debris exists due to the increasing threat of space debris in Low Earth Orbits.
- Furthermore, the risk of death is equivalent to sitting on an exploding bomb while travelling in a rocket that will accelerate you to 29000 km/h from zero in less than a half-hour.
Way forward
- Firstly, after the Gaganyaan programme is completed successfully, the next phase will be to achieve the capability for prolonged human presence in space.
- The Gaganyaan Programme will be extended to include activities linked with the Space Station.
- In addition, the space station’s proposals and methods will be worked out in the future.
- The Indian space station will serve as a base for scientific and industrial research in various fundamental, applied, and engineering disciplines.
- The government is promoting the private sector and start-ups for numerous Gaganyaan activities, including hardware development, component supply, health monitoring gadgets, virtual reality simulators, etc.
Pic Courtesy: AIR
Content Source: The Hindu