India to orbit, attempt retrieval of capsule in january

India to orbit, attempt retrieval of capsule in january



Countdown begins for Indian in space

Pranab Dhal Samanta
Posted online: Sunday, December 31, 2006 at 0000 hrs
50-kg capsule to be launched in 10 days, to test for re-entry
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/19791.html

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 30: Ten days into the New Year, India will launch a
space capsule.


The 50-kg capsule, which will be brought back after 15-30 days, will be the
country's first big step towards a manned space mission.

It's the first time the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will test
its "re-entry and recovery" technology. The capsule will fall somewhere in
the Bay of Bengal and will be recovered by the Navy.

The re-entry and recovery phase is the most crucial aspect of any manned
mission in outer space and by putting it to test, sources said, ISRO will
send a clear signal that India has started preparations for sending a man to
space. This will mark a key shift from ISRO's policy to restrict space
exploration to meet national development goals.

In fact, this technology was being part-tested by dropping it from different
heights using helicopters till now. But this is the first serious attempt at
mastering this technology by bringing back a capsule from outer space. Only
US, Russia and China have so far sent manned missions to space.

The capsule is to be launched on the PSLV C7 that will also put in orbit
Cartosat 2. Two other satellites, one from Indonesia, the other from
Argentina, will also be launched, making it the first time that a launch
will carry four payloads. Until now, ISRO's launch vehicles have not carried
more than three payloads.

The decision to test re-entry and recovery technology was taken after about
80 scientists from the across the country gave their unanimous consent to
sending a manned mission to space at a conference in Bangalore in November.

The idea of such a brainstorming conference came from PM Manmohan Singh
after ISRO head G Madhavan Nair made a presentation to him on October 17.

The capsule experiment will allow ISRO to deal with problems that occur
during the re-entry phase. It was during this critical phase that space
shuttle Columbia carrying Kalpana Chawla disintegrated. A host of areas that
ISRO had never dealt with like temperature changes during re-entry would be
tested for the first time.

The other objective of the mission is the safe recovery of the capsule. For
this, co-ordination with the Navy is already underway.

Jim Oberg wrote:


The re-entry and recovery phase is the most crucial aspect of any manned
mission in outer space and by putting it to test, sources said, ISRO will
send a clear signal that India has started preparations for sending a man to
space.



B.S. - that's the first step toward their photographic reconnaissance
satellite program, like our Discoverer satellites. :-D

Pat

Pat Flannery wrote:
Jim Oberg wrote:


The re-entry and recovery phase is the most crucial aspect of any manned
mission in outer space and by putting it to test, sources said, ISRO will
send a clear signal that India has started preparations for sending a man to
space.



B.S. - that's the first step toward their photographic reconnaissance
satellite program, like our Discoverer satellites. :-D

Pat


How soon until the other Indians put up an orbital casino?

;-)

Rusty

On 31 Dec 2006 18:34:12 -0800, "Rusty"
wrote:

How soon until the other Indians put up an orbital casino?

....Yeah, but can you see how Apollo 13 would have turned out had India
launched and controlled the mission?

"New Delhi, we have a problem!"

"Excuse, please? Be saying again, are you being having a problem, no?"

"Ok, we've got a Main BUS B Undervolt..."

"One moment, sir. Very sorry, but before we can proceed further, I
must have the serial number of your spacecraft."

Of course, Flight Director Singh eventually would decide that to use
the LM as a lifeboat would void the warranty, he refuses to approve
the action...

OM
--
]=====================================[
] OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld [
] Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* [
] an obnoxious opinion in your day! [
]=====================================[

Rusty wrote:


How soon until the other Indians put up an orbital casino?

;-)



Like their gods, the Indian space program has many arms.
Just be worried if they launch something huge into orbit named Shiva The
Destroyer. ;-)

OM wrote:


...Yeah, but can you see how Apollo 13 would have turned out had India
launched and controlled the mission?

"New Delhi, we have a problem!"

"Excuse, please? Be saying again, are you being having a problem, no?"

"Ok, we've got a Main BUS B Undervolt..."

"One moment, sir. Very sorry, but before we can proceed further, I
must have the serial number of your spacecraft."

Of course, Flight Director Singh eventually would decide that to use
the LM as a lifeboat would void the warranty, he refuses to approve
the action...



Given the nature of speaking English I've seen in the Indians I've run
into, that would read more like this:

"New Delhi, we have a very major problem here!"

"Excuse, me.. did you say you have a major problem please? Be saying again, are you being having a problem there?"

"Goodness gracious me, yes. And it is a real bugger I'll have you know. We've got a Undervolt sort of thing going on in the main BUS B thing, and all other sorts of things are going very haywire indeed. It is a very sticky wicket we are in up here. Where is Lord Ganesh when you really need him? To see his smiling countenance and friendly trunk embracing us now would now be a great comfort indeed to our souls. Who designed this spacecraft? They were guilty of very sloppy thinking indeed.


"One moment, sir. Very sorry, but before we can proceed further, I
must have the serial number of your spacecraft."

Ah Sadu! Where are you now?* You were the very Sir Lancelot of The Distressed Gentlefolk's Wine Appreciation and Free-thought Society.
If you had six arms, there'd be a cocktail glass, shot glass, wine glass, beer stein, or croquet mallet in each of them.
You were the very epitome of the truth of Oscar Wilde's comment that "work is the curse of the drinking class".

* Actually, in bed with the PLO the last time I checked - this is no way for a decent hard-drinking Roman Catholic Brahman boy to end up.
But he was married... and those who the gods wish to make most surely dead, they first make wish to most quickly wed.
I raise me glass to you; and give you sage advice for the new year - never bite into a bagel that's making a ticking sound. :-D

Bertie Wooster
The Drone's Club

How soon until the other Indians put up an orbital casino?

Your bet is being withheld until you can provide us with your mothers
maiden name, please hold....... :-)