We’ve all been quite aware of India’s ambitious space program. It recently successfully became the first Asian nation to enter Mars, and the First Nation to do so at first attempt. Now, ISRO has set eyes on a human space flight, with an unmanned crew module testing, scheduled for December this year.
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters in Bangalore,
We will send an unmanned crew module on the experimental GSLV-Mark III rocket in December and test its re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere for a human space flight plan in future.
The crew module, which will weigh over 3.6 tonnes, will be put into orbit 100-120km up in a satellite, and then, will be re-entered into earth’s atmosphere, to check its re-entry capability, a necessity in human space flights.
Radhakrishnan further explained,
Though the actual human space flight will be in an orbit around earth at a height of 270km for a week, the experimental flight with the crew module in a spacecraft will go up to 100-120km above earth to test its heat shield survive very high temperatures (about 1,500 degrees Celsius) during the re-entry into the atmosphere.
For re-entry, the crew module will have a parachute deployed at their ends. India’s previous government, which is largely credited for India’s growing space prowess, had sanctioned ₹145 crores for this mission. The rocket is being assembled at ISRO’s SriHariKota center.
