Manned mission no more a fantasy now

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: Forty four years after it began, 32 years after the country’s first satellite Aryabhatta was built and 27 years after it first put a satellite—Rohini RS1—into orbit indigenously, Indian space programme achieved yet another significant milestone on January 22, 2007. On that day, for the first time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) brought an object in space, safely back to Earth.

The success of the Space Recovery Capsule Experiment (SRE-1) takes India one-step closer to its objective of playing a greater role in space exploration and more importantly, in the global satellite launch business.

SRE-1 recovery: It all began on January 19th. The 550 kg SRE-1, which was launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota on January 10th and orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 637 km conducting micro-gravity experiments, was put in an elliptical orbit in preparation for its re-entry into Earth. The on-board rocket motor was fired at 9 AM on January 22nd to de-boost the capsule and it was re-oriented for re-entry. It entered the atmosphere at an altitude of 100 km with a velocity of 29,000 km/hr.

By the time it descended to an altitude of 5km, its velocity was reduced to 363 km/hr. The pilot and drogue parachute was then deployed to further reduce the velocity to 170 km/hr. Finally, the main parachute was deployed at an altitude of 2 km and SRE-1 splashed into the Bay of Bengal, 140 km east of Sriharikota, with a touch down velocity of just 43 km/hr at 9.46 am. The floatation system immediately got triggered and the capsule was recovered by ISRO with the help of Indian Coast Guard and Navy.

Post-recovery tests have revealed that the carbon phenolic ablative material and silica tiles on the outer surface, indigenously developed by ISRO, had protected the capsule quite effectively and the environment inside the capsule (maintained at room temperature!) was even better than expected.

Significance of SRE-1 success: By bringing SRE-1 back from space in a controlled and safe manner to a designated point on Earth, India’s capability in important technologies like aero-thermo structures—the capsule hurtles towards Earth at 29,000 km/hr and is subjected to intense heat of up to 2,500 degrees—deceleration, floatation systems, navigation, guidance and control has been successfully tested.