Successful test flight of Gaganyaan, and crew escape module touches down

 Successful test flight of Gaganyaan, and crew escape module touches down

The test vehicle flight served as a prelude to the Gaganyaan program, which seeks to launch people into space in a 400-kilometer low Earth orbit.

New Delhi: Today, Sriharikota saw the launch of ISRO's unmanned test flight for the nation's ambitious space program, "Gaganyaan," India's first human spaceflight mission. The rocket launched on Saturday tested the crew module's emergency escape mechanism before its crew module detachment and gentle water landing around 10 minutes after launch

This trip was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the crew escape mechanism for the craft, which would be employed if astronauts need to evacuate in the event of an emergency.

"We are delighted to report that the mission was successful. The mission's goal was to show off the crew escape mechanism. S Somanath of the Indian Space Research Organisation announced from the mission center that the craft briefly exceeded the speed of sound before activating the crew escape device.

"The escape system took the crew capsule away from the vehicle and the subsequent tasks including the touch-down at the sea seemed very well accomplished," he said.

It was changed from an 8 am launch from the first launch pad to an 8.45 am launch for Test Vehicle D1 mission. However, the countdown halted only five seconds before liftoff. At 10 a.m., ISRO successfully carried out the test after determining the problem.

The Gaganyaan program, which intends to launch people into space on a test vehicle mission and return them safely to Earth after three days in a 400 kilometer Low Earth Orbit, is the successor of the test vehicle mission.

In the Gaganyaan mission, slated to launch in 2024, India will showcase its capabilities for human spaceflight. By 2035, the nation will have built a space station and is working on both a Venus orbiter and a Mars lander.