Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman S. Somanath has said that India will continue to send lunar missions until 'an Indian lands on the moon'. The scientist noted that the agency will continue their series of Chandrayaan missions and probes until an astronaut from the country lands on the moon.
Somnath was in Ahmedabad as the chief guest of a program organized by the Astronautical Society of India.
In August 2023, ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft had made a soft landing on the south pole of the moon's surface, making India the first country to accomplish the feat.
“Chandrayaan 3 has done very well. Data has been collected and scientific publication is just beginning. Now we want to continue the Chandrayaan series until an Indian lands on the moon. For that, we need to master many technologies, such as going there and coming back. We are trying to do that in the next mission,” Somanath said.
S Somanath on Gaganyaan
Somanath said ISRO will conduct an unmanned Gaganyaan mission, a test vehicle flight mission and an airdrop test in 2024.
“The airdrop test will take place on April 24. After that, two more unmanned missions will take place next year and then the manned mission, if all goes well, will take place by the end of next year,” the ISRO chairman said.
The Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities by launching a three-member crew into a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission and returning them safely to Earth by landing in Indian maritime waters.
S Somanath on ISRO's Carbon-Carbon (CC) mouthpiece
Somanath said ISRO's newly developed Carbon-Carbon (CC) nozzle will improve payload capacity as it is lightweight and will be installed in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV.
In a press release on April 16, ISRO announced that it had made a breakthrough in rocket engine technology with the development of a lightweight CC nozzle for rocket engines, thereby increasing payload capacity.
This innovation, realized by the space agency's Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, promises to improve the vital parameters of rocket engines, including thrust levels, specific impulses and thrust-to-weight ratios, thereby increasing the payload capacity of launch vehicles, the report said.
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Published: Apr 17, 2024 5:27 PM IST