ISRO tests parachute system that's meant to land Indian astronauts safely on water

The Indian Space Agency (ISRO) has been carrying out developmental work towards its maiden Human Spaceflight mission 'Gaganyaan'. On one hand, while thework is progressing towards human-rating the country's largest rocket LVM3, to be able to carry astronauts;efforts are underway to ensure that the astronauts land safely on the water. In order to fulfil the latter objective, ISRO recently conducted a parachute-based testmeant to be used for Mission 'Gaganyaan'.

Conducted by ISRO's lead facility, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the test was carried out in Uttar Pradesh in Northern India, in close coordination with the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and Defence Research Development Organization(DRDO). Known as the Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Test, or IMAT, the crew module deceleration system was tested at the Babina Field Fire Range (BFFR) in the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh.

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Objects in low Earth orbit travel at speeds over 27,000kmph and this applies to the Gaganyaan crew module carrying Indian astronauts as well. On re-entering the denser parts of the earth's atmosphere, the capsule will be encountering temperatures of several thousand degrees centigrade and will slow down considerably. Even then, the rapidly falling object would have to be further slowed down from hundreds of kilometres per hour to around 10 kilometres per hour, a safe landing speed for splashing down at sea.

Watch |ISRO increases carrying capacity of LVM3 rocket by 450kg

It is for this important purpose of slowing down the rapidly falling capsule, that the Parachutes are being tested. According to ISRO, the Gaganyaan Crew Module comprises a total of ten parachutes."In flight, the parachute sequence starts with deployment of 2 Nos. of Apex cover separation parachutes (protection cover for the Crew Module Parachute compartment) followed by 2 Nos. of Drogue parachute deployment to stabilise & bring down the velocity. Upon Drogue parachute release, 3 Nos. of Pilot chute will be used to extract 3 Nos. of Main parachute individually, to reduce the speed of the Crew module to safe levels during its landing. Two of the three main chutes are sufficient to land the astronauts on earth, and the third is redundant" ISRO said.

The recent test was a simulation, wherein the main parachute fails to open and how the landings were carried out under such a scenario. ISRO said,a 5-tonne dummy mass, equivalent to the Crew module mass, was taken to an altitude of 2.5 kilometres and dropped using the Indian Air force’s IL-76 heavy-lift transporter aircraft. Two small pyro-based mortar-deployed pilot parachutes then pulled the main parachutes. The fully inflated Main parachutes reduced the payload speed to a safe landing speed as the entire sequence lasted about 2-3 minutes and the payload mass landed softly on the ground.

The design and development of the parachute-based deceleration system for the crew module is a joint venture between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

SpaceX's operational dragon capsule which carries astronauts and cargo to space and returns them back to earth via water landing also uses a similar multi-parachute system to slow down the human-carrying capsule and ensure its safe landing.

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