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#360
by
JH
on 15 Aug, 2018 17:42
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Argentina sent a monkey on December 23, 1969. Correct me If I am wrong.
They launched a capuchin on a suborbital rocket in 69, but it reached a maximum altitude of 82 km (documentation was apparently poor, as the range of estimated apogees extends from 30 km to 82 km). I'll leave it up to you to choose between the Kármán line or the Air Force/McDowell definition.
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#361
by
sanman
on 15 Aug, 2018 21:46
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Personally, I love the orange color of the Indian spacesuit, and don't find it to be "gaudy" at all.
But I guess this is a flight-suit type of spacesuit. If an EVA type of suit ever gets built later on, won't it probably have to be the standard all-white?
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#362
by
sanman
on 15 Aug, 2018 23:18
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RSTV public affairs program 'The Big Picture' discusses manned spaceflight announcement:
Not sure why they even mention reusability, because that likely has nothing to do with this initial manned space mission.
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#363
by
sanman
on 16 Aug, 2018 00:16
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#364
by
sanman
on 16 Aug, 2018 17:52
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India GDP is 2.6 trillion. GDP of U.S. in 1960 adjusted for inflation was 4.67 trillion. GDP of Soviet Union in 1970 was 2.88 trillion. Current Russian GDP is 1.5 trillion. This suggests that anything short of interplanetary is within reach for India to at least attempt.
With the political decision-making apparatus in USSR & China being more centralized, they seem to be good at undertaking grand projects and seeing them through. Meanwhile in the US or India, there's a greater need to get the public onboard. This is why NASA has moved into doing so much public outreach, and ISRO seems to be heading in this direction too.
While India is starting out from a lower base, given its higher GDP growth rate, its lower wage costs, and the dividends from technological development, this may give the Prime Minister's Office more confidence in taking risks by backing bold leaps forward in space. And it does create feel-good flag-waving opportunities, of course.
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#365
by
sanman
on 16 Aug, 2018 18:50
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'No less than seven days in space' says Sivan
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-will-put-man-in-space-for-seven-days-says-isro-chairman-after-modi-announces-space-mission-in-independence-day-speech/story-uYmUwOyXzCemKyd1APTmhP.html
For the first time, India’s space agency is planning to put an Indian astronaut for seven days in space at a cost less than Rs 10,000 crore as part of its manned mission by 2022, ISRO chairman K Sivan said on Wednesday.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving the Indian Space Research Organisation the target to be achieved in the next four years, Sivan told IANS: “Our plan is to have a human being in space for seven days and not less than that.”
So I guess 7 days is considered a minimum threshold to demonstrate a decent capability for sustaining human operations in space.
But what do you do for 7 days? Just sit there in a capsule and twiddle your thumbs?
I guess hoping for a spacewalk on this first mission would be out of the question, given the complications and risks it would add to a mission which is already on a tight timeline.
But what other lesser things could they do to add value to the mission, without adding too much risk or complexity?
Are there any other useful capabilities which could be demonstrated, besides just surviving in space for 7 days?
As a side note, I think if the mission progresses smoothly without any hitches, then it could be nice to have the astronaut hold a live conversation with a bunch of schoolkids, or something like that. This could give ISRO a nice opportunity for public outreach, while also giving inspiration and motivation to a younger generation for pursuing STEM.
Hopefully any cameras and video-streaming from this mission will support a good picture quality and framerate, to properly record these grand historical milestone moments for posterity (it would be a shame to be stuck watching this in some noisy grainy low-res quality that makes it harder to watch)
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#366
by
sanman
on 16 Aug, 2018 20:53
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Also, what about the idea of a 'glass cockpit' for the Indian crew capsule? I've read that the capsule interior is still being worked on. Would that really take too long to develop?
SpaceX's Dragon2 has the snazzy big touchscreens to provide lots of data and interactivity, without taking up too much room. When touchscreens are now available even on cars and small aircraft, then why not for a manned Indian spacecraft?
Or is it too different and untried to be attempting for an initial spaceflight? You could still have regular backup controls, in case it didn't work.
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#367
by
sanman
on 16 Aug, 2018 23:09
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#368
by
sanman
on 17 Aug, 2018 02:44
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If the first Gaganyaan mission is pulled off successfully, then what could a follow-up mission be about?
What's the natural pattern of progression?
I'm imagining first flight is the one lone astronaut, then second flight would be a crew of 3 astronauts, and then the 3rd flight would be focused on spacewalk / EVA.
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#369
by
ZachS09
on 17 Aug, 2018 04:37
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If the first Gaganyaan mission is pulled off successfully, then what could a follow-up mission be about?
What's the natural pattern of progression?
I'm imagining first flight is the one lone astronaut, then second flight would be a crew of 3 astronauts, and then the 3rd flight would be focused on spacewalk / EVA.
I’m thinking the same as well. It seems that this pattern is nearly reminiscent of the early Shenzhou flights:
#1: Shenzhou 5 carried one astronaut into space for 21 hours
#2: Shenzhou 6 carried two astronauts into space for a 4-day mission
#3: Shenzhou 7 carried three astronauts into space for the nation’s first spacewalk despite the mission lasting only three days
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#370
by
sanman
on 17 Aug, 2018 05:24
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I’m thinking the same as well. It seems that this pattern is nearly reminiscent of the early Shenzhou flights:
#1: Shenzhou 5 carried one astronaut into space for 21 hours
#2: Shenzhou 6 carried two astronauts into space for a 4-day mission
#3: Shenzhou 7 carried three astronauts into space for the nation’s first spacewalk despite the mission lasting only three days
So China did 4 unmanned Shenzhou flights before proceeding to manned. Is ISRO then cutting corners by saying it'll just be 2 unmanned flights first? Hopefully those 2 can allow all the necessary validation.
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#371
by
ZachS09
on 17 Aug, 2018 06:21
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I’m thinking the same as well. It seems that this pattern is nearly reminiscent of the early Shenzhou flights:
#1: Shenzhou 5 carried one astronaut into space for 21 hours
#2: Shenzhou 6 carried two astronauts into space for a 4-day mission
#3: Shenzhou 7 carried three astronauts into space for the nation’s first spacewalk despite the mission lasting only three days
So China did 4 unmanned Shenzhou flights before proceeding to manned. Is ISRO then cutting corners by saying it'll just be 2 unmanned flights first? Hopefully those 2 can allow all the necessary validation.
I hope it’s just two unmanned tests. The sooner ISRO proves its manned spacecraft uncrewed, the sooner they can start launching their own astronauts.
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#372
by
Steven Pietrobon
on 17 Aug, 2018 10:23
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So China did 4 unmanned Shenzhou flights before proceeding to manned. Is ISRO then cutting corners by saying it'll just be 2 unmanned flights first? Hopefully those 2 can allow all the necessary validation.
China experienced problems with the first flights of Shenzhou, which is why they had to do more development flights. India may experience the same problem as well.
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#373
by
sanman
on 18 Aug, 2018 07:23
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Former ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair says that India should turn to the US and Russia for astronaut training expertise:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/aug/16/india-should-take-american-or-russian-help-for-manned-mission-madhavan-nair-1858634.html"The basic design for the space capsule is for carrying three people. GSLV-Mk III has got a capacity to carry such a module," Nair said.
"Of course, we have to do a lot of things -- training of astronauts, use and make life support systems among many others. All this is new development, and it's a very challenging job," he added.
"We may have to depend on some friendly countries like Russia and America for the initial mission", he said.
"Life support system and conditioning of astronauts for the space environment is one of the key technological challenges," Nair said.
The overall reliability of the launch vehicle needs to be improved.
"Necessary improvement in launch systems and satellite technologies is called for," he said.
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#374
by
sanman
on 18 Aug, 2018 09:30
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BBC:
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#375
by
sanjaykumar
on 18 Aug, 2018 15:38
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New Delhi: An Indian astronaut, be it a man or a woman, will go on a space odyssey by 2022 on board ‘Gaganyaan’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address here.
He said when India celebrates 75th year of Independence in 2022, “and if possible even before, an Indian son or daughter” will undertake a manned space mission on board ‘Gaganyaan’ “carrying the national flag”. Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first lunar probe.
It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008 and operated until August 2009. Mangalyaan is another Indian space project. The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is a space probe orbiting Mars since September 24, 2014.
https://www.livemint.com/Politics/glFe56EP0V2EkF25mQshXO/Narendra-Modi-announces-Gaganyaan-in-Independence-Day-speech.html
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#376
by
sanjaykumar
on 18 Aug, 2018 15:48
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BBC:
BBC Same old store - money can spent else were - poor country - nonsense. Pallava's response about Vijay Mally's in London with billions of stolen money shut BBC - perhaps for ever. HiHi...
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#377
by
sanman
on 18 Aug, 2018 21:03
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If the US and Russia are agreeable to making their facilities available to India for astronaut training, then which facilities would these be?
What would the duration of such training be?
What are the activities that one undergoes for astronaut training?
Are there different levels of astronaut training?
Are there different branches of training for different specializations?
What kinds of specialized hardware are required?
What is an appropriate number of candidates to train?
How frequently are such training facilities used to train people?
Are they generally operating at some sizable fraction of their capacity?
Are they open to members of the public to try? (eg. space enthusiasts, or corporate team-building events, etc)
What kinds of health conditions do they have to screen for?
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#378
by
worldtimedate
on 18 Aug, 2018 23:48
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VR Lalithambika, the woman who will lead India's human space flight programmeLalithambika V.R., a scientist who has played a role in building India's rocket programme has been selected to lead the country's Human Space Flight Programme. Isro chairman K Sivan has picked Lalithambika, who has won the Astronautical Society of India for excellence award in launch vehicle technology, to spearhead the programme to make India the fourth country launch a human in space.
Since 2004, when the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) first prepared a plan for human spaceflight, the agency has been developing technologies that are building blocks for such a mission. The most crucial is that of a crew module, a capsule that can carry humans and which Isro has successfully demonstrated by having a prototype re-enter the earth's atmosphere withstanding the thermal heat caused by friction. In July, it demonstrated the pad abort test (PAT), or the crew module ejecting from the rocket in case of a failure.
Lalithambika's task would be to ensure that these technologies are built as systems and tested. She also has the task of involving the private industry, collaborate with the academia, the Indian Air Force, DRDO and foreign institutions for the mission.
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#379
by
sanman
on 20 Aug, 2018 09:22
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India's future astronaut training centre to be on outskirts of Bengaluru:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bengaluru-to-host-centre-to-train-astronauts/articleshow/65466349.cmsBENGALURU: India’s future astronauts training facility, plans for which have been on the drawing board since 2008-09 awaiting official clearance of the Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP), will finally be realised on a land located about eight to ten kilometres from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on the outskirts of Bengaluru city, as per current plans.
The facility, likely to be named Astronaut Training and Biomedical Engineering Centre, will be developed on the land owned by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) around its guest house in Devanahalli (Bengaluru Rural) and is expected to resemble the one in Russia where cosmonauts or astronauts from around the world undergo training. The centre is likely to be spread across 40-50 acres.
However, the astronauts—Gaganauts as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech—selected for India’s first human space mission will be undergoing training either in Russia or the US given the tight schedule.
On the plans for the training centre in Devanahalli, Isro Chairman Sivan K told TOI: “Yes, but that will be for future missions, as it won’t be possible to train astronauts for the present mission at our facility given the tight schedule. So we will be training them at a foreign facility, and subsequently, for future missions, we will have our own here.”
To be built in collaboration with the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM), located on Old Airport Road here, the astronauts facility will help prepare personnel for future manned missions in recovery and rescue operations, study of radiation environment and the long journey across space through water simulation.
The centre will also be equipped to train astronauts on surviving in zero gravity environments, something that most challenging according to Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut who went to space on a Soviet mission in 1984.
Aside of this, the centre will host a variety of chambers meant for thermal cycling and radiation regulation and also have centrifugals to train the astronauts on acceleration aspects when their module or vehicle is in space.
“The water simulators will be like swimming pools. Astronauts will go underneath the water and learn to live in zero gravity situations,” one source had told this reporter earlier.
A senior official at the IAM told TOI that the institute has the ability to develop the astronaut training centre without any outside help, and that when the ball is set rolling, there will be enough resources dedicated for the project.
Selection for Mission 2022
The first task at hand for the IAM so far as the human space mission goes, is the selection of ‘Gaganauts’ for the 2022 mission, several tests for which has already been conceptualised and developed at the institute, which already has a centrifugal system used to train pilots to handle G-force.
“There is an elaborate process and we also have all the simulators needed to select astronauts. The process had began as early as 2009 and we have developed these systems by 2011-12, but the project was not cleared then. Now, at least two of the simulators are ready to be used straight away while a few more would need minimal enhancements which will not take more than two-three weeks once we get the word,” the official said.
Typically, the IAM would need anywhere between six months to a year to select the final few to go on India’s maiden human space mission, following which their training will start which is also likely to take a few months.
“Initially, it took both Russia and the US one year to select their astronauts, subsequently the US now has a process where it can pick them in six months. We’ll need more than six months, but not more than a year,” the official said.