Challenges ahead in putting 2 Indians in space

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Plans to put two Indians in space by 2015 require cutting edge technologies such as building a robust and reliable launch vehicle, a livable crew capsule, providing life support systems for the astronauts and “a 100 per cent reliable crew escape system” in case of an emergency, according to S. Ramkrishnan, Chief Executive, Human Space Flight Programme of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).




The most challenging part was to ensure that the two-man crew were brought back safely to earth, said Mr. Ramakrishnan on Monday at the Space Summit of the Indian Science Congress, which is under way here.



The astronauts would remain in low-earth circular orbit at an altitude of 300 km for seven days. The mission called for building a launch vehicle that could safely take two humans into space, navigation, guidance and control systems, plans to pre-empt disasters, etc. “But we have established our credentials for doing very complex missions,” he said.



Mr. Ramakrishnan, who is also Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, said the ISRO was building a technology demonstrator of a reusable launch vehicle, called RLV-TD, similar to the U.S. space shuttle. The RLV-TD’s engineering model was ready. A scaled-down model would be flown by the end of 2010.



The Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III was now in the testing phase. Its two boosters, each carrying 200 tonnes of solid propellants, would be tested after some weeks. It is a three-stage vehicle which, in 2011, would put a satellite weighing four tonnes in geo-synchronous transfer orbit and a 10-tonne satellite in low-earth orbit.



Managing Director of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) C.G. Krishnadas Nair made a strong case for establishing universities devoted to aeronautics. The ISRO, CIAL, Airports Authority of India Limited and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were trying to establish an international institute for aeronautical engineering and management in Bangalore. Universities should be established for teaching airport design, construction and management. Very little research was done in aerospace in the private sector in the country. The Union government should devise a pro-active policy in aeronautics and set up an empowered commission on aeronautics.



Lars Prahm, Director-General, EUMETSAT, said weather-induced disasters such as floods and landslips were increasing globally. There was a reduction in the snow cover and a rise in the global sea-level. EUMETSAT, a European organisation with six operating satellites, wanted to forge global partnership, including with the ISRO, in meteorology, oceanography, monitoring of climate and atmospheric composition.



Director of CNES (French Space Agency) Marc Pircher said the Megha-Tropiques satellite, with payloads from India and France, would be put in orbit from India this year. It would study the tropical atmosphere near the equatorial belt and cyclone formation.



Daring to dream





The former Chairman of ISRO, U.R. Rao, wanted a new green revolution for better productivity of food grains. This required factors such as better management of agriculture, higher investment in energy sector and more access to marketing for farmers. The country’s food grain productivity of 3.5 tonnes per acre was lower than the world average. The nation’s challenges lay in ensuring food security, energy security, environmental security, space security and so on.



Professor Rao said colonisation of Mars by humans was possible in thousand years. “It is no more fiction. It is within the realm of possibility. The last 50 years of space has been dramatic. The next 50 years will be spectacular for those who dare to dream.”