ISRO Demonstrated Safe Recovery of Crew Module in Exigency

Last Updated on August 18, 2018 by Bharat Saini

Crew Escape System, an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort, a major technology demonstration, was carried out by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday, 5 July 2018. Crew Escape System, a critical technology that takes ISRO closer to its ambition of sending Indians to space by conducting the first ‘pad abort’ test demonstrated safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency at the launch pad.

• Crew Escape System along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonnes, lifted off at 07.00 AM (IST) at the opening of the launch window from its pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
• The test was over in 259 seconds, during which the Crew Escape System along with 1,260-kg crew module soared skyward, then arced out over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to Earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota.
• The crew module reached an altitude of nearly 2.7 km under the power of its seven specifically designed quick acting solid motors to take away the crew module to a safe distance without exceeding the safe g-levels.
• Nearly 300 sensors recorded various mission performance parameters during the test flight.
• Three recovery boats are being exercised to retrieve the module as part of the recovery protocol.
• ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said that the test met all their expectations.
• ISRO has been readying technologies like pad abort, that are necessary for a future manned mission, as part of its R&D activities.
• ISRO teams from various centres tried out at least five new technologies, such as those related to wireless satellite communication, navigation, Ka-band altimeter and telemetry.
• More technology trials related to astronaut safety would be taken up later.
• ISRO described Pad Abort Test (PAT) as a major technology demonstrator and the first in a series of tests to qualify a larger Crew Escape System of the future.
• S., Russia and China which have sent human missions have developed their own systems.

1. Somanath, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvannathapuram that led the pad abort test, said the escape mechanism activated when it sensed something wrong in the health of the mission or module. The rockets powered by fast-acting solid fuels quickly eject the crew and the module. Each of the seven motors that powered the crew module had a different role and worked in sequence: at low altitude, high altitude, for pitching the module away.