“Nation is proud of ISRO’s achievement”: Andhra Governor on success of Gaganyaan ‘TV-D1’ mission

Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], October 21 (ANI): Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer on Saturday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists for the successful accomplishment of ‘TV-D1’ (Test Vehicle Development Flight 1) in the Gaganyaan Mission.

“Nation is proud of ISRO’s achievement of successfully completing the test vehicle mission as a predecessor to the Gaganyaan programme, which aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km and bring them safely back to the Earth,” Governor Nazeer said.

The success of the ISRO’s mission came after a second attempt at launch, as it had faced an engine ignition problem at 8:45 am in its initial attempt.

ISRO Chief Somanath informed that the purpose of this mission to demonstrate the crew escape system in the mission was achieved.

“I am very happy to announce the successful accomplishment of the TV-D1 mission. The purpose of this mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system for the Gaganyaan program through a test vehicle demonstration in which the vehicle went up to a Mach number, which is slightly above the speed of sound, and initiated an abort condition for the crew escape system to function,” he said.

The mission objectives of the TV-D1 launch were flight demonstration and evaluation of Test Vehicle subsystems; flight demonstration and evaluation of Crew Escape System including various separation systems; crew module characteristics; and deceleration system demonstration at higher altitudes and its recovery.

The Test Vehicle is a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payloads consist of the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters.

This flight simulated the abort condition during the ascent trajectory, corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission. This mission represents a significant milestone in India’s effort to demonstrate that it is possible to send humans into space.

The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them safely back to earth by landing in Indian waters.

This programme will make India the fourth nation to launch a manned spaceflight mission after the US, Russia, and China.