India's Gaganyaan Mission Takes Flight: Isro Concludes Crucial Parachute Test with Success
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In a major breakthrough for India's human spaceflight program, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has successfully conducted a test on the main parachutes for the Gaganyaan Crew Module (GCM). The trial, held at the Babina Field Firing Range in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, was a critical step towards the Gaganyaan mission's objective of sending a three-member crew on a three-day space mission. The Gaganyaan mission aims to send the first Indian astronauts to space and back safely. To achieve this, Isro is developing a human-rated launch vehicle, an orbital module, and a crew escape system. The space agency has been conducting a series of unmanned missions to test critical systems before the first manned flight. The recent test involved dropping a simulated mass equivalent to the GCM from an altitude of 2.5km using the Indian Air Force's IL-76 aircraft. The parachute system deployed as planned, and the test article achieved a stable descent and soft landing, validating the robustness of the parachute design. The GCM parachute system comprises 10 parachutes of four types, designed with redundancy to ensure a safe landing even if one of the main parachutes fails. The system uses a pyro device to open the main parachutes partially, followed by a full opening after a predetermined period. This step-by-step process, known as reefed inflation, was successfully tested during the trial. An important aspect of the test was the evaluation of the main parachutes under extreme scenarios of delay in disreefing between the two main parachutes. The test aimed to validate the system's structural integrity and load distribution under asymmetric disreefing conditions, one of the most critical load scenarios expected during actual mission descent. Isro collaborated with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, DRDO, IAF, and the Indian Army for the test. The success of this trial brings India one step closer to achieving its ambitious space mission.
