Current Science

S. Somanath

Abstract

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S. Somanath ¹, S. Unnikrishnan Nair ², T. Sivamurugan ¹, S. L. N. Desikan ¹

Affiliations
1 Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, IN
2 Human Space Flight Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Bengaluru 560 054, IN

Abstract

As a prologue to the Gaganyaan project, ISRO successfully test fired one of the critical and essential technologies for human space flight, i.e. Crew Escape System (CES) Pad Abort Test on 5 July 2018. This is a strategically important flight as a part of various qualification tests that ensures emergency escape measure to quickly pull the Crew Module (CM) along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in case of any eventuality. CES along with CM weighing of 12.6 tonnes lifted-off at 07.00 h from the Sounding Rocket Complex Launch Pad, Sriharikota. The vehicle was taken to an altitude of 3 km using a specially developed solid motor with multiple reverse flow and scarfed nozzles with 10 g acceleration. Around 330 sensors on-board were used to measure its performance. The data obtained ensured that the adopted design philosophy and approaches such as CM reorientation, aerodynamic data with jet-on environment, mission sequences, performance of special solid motors, deceleration system, etc. were in order. This provides more confidence to progress to the next level of demonstration as a part of Gaganyaan.

Keywords

Crew Escape System, Crew Module, Flight Performance, Pad Abort.

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