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#400
by
sanman
on 12 Sep, 2018 02:36
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Interview with Dr Jitendra Singh, the minister in charge of the Department of Space:
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#401
by
lucspace
on 12 Sep, 2018 13:59
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#402
by
sanman
on 14 Sep, 2018 21:21
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#403
by
K210
on 15 Sep, 2018 00:18
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Wish they would drop the "Ganganyaan". Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan we have had enough "yaans" maybe time for a new naming convention.
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#404
by
sanman
on 15 Sep, 2018 01:48
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Haha - I don't know who started this "yaan" naming convention ("yaan" meaning "craft" or "vehicle")
Meanwhile, the rockets have a pretty sterile perfunctory naming convention - just straight acronyms like PSLV, GSLV, SSLV, etc.
I rather like the grand naming traditions of other space programs:
USA - Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Saturn, Delta, Atlas, etc
Russia - Soyuz, Mir, Buran, etc
ESA - Ariane, Vega, Hermes, etc
JAXA - Osumi, Akari, Hayabusa, Nozomi, etc
They all show tremendous imagination and inspired thought. India likewise needs to come up with more inspirational names - that too in its own small way helps to captivate public imagination and appeal. Bearing in mind that such names can get popularized and become household words, then more effort should be put into name selection.
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#405
by
sanman
on 15 Sep, 2018 05:39
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I just saw a newscast that said the 2 unmanned flights leading up to the actual manned flight won't be using any sort of test animals, and that they will instead use instrumentation to validate that ECLSS is working properly in the capsule.
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#406
by
plutogno
on 15 Sep, 2018 06:20
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#407
by
sanman
on 15 Sep, 2018 21:48
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Former head of Institute of Aerospace Medicine says that India needs a sustainable human spaceflight program:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/gaganyaan-2010-gslv-failure-led-to-several-gaps/articleshow/65821662.cms"It shouldn't become a one or two mission programme, we need to have a sustained human programme. The Chinese have set a goal to colonise Moon by 2030, the US will soon have people on Mars, and if India needs to have a say in future space policies and stake its claim rightfully, it cannot be left behind in any of these aspects and sending people to space is the way forward," he said.
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#408
by
worldtimedate
on 16 Sep, 2018 07:11
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IAF ready for space challenge, says Air chiefThe Indian Air Force and its arms are fully geared up for supporting the first Indian human space mission of 2022, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa said on Friday. Coming at a short notice, the Human Space Flight Programme or HSP is daunting and throws a different kind of challenge at the IAF, he said. "We have in-house capabilities at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine [IAM]; we have selected our cosmonauts in the past. IAM will play a key role in human engineering support and the development of the space crew capsule. It is fully geared up to whatever tasks it must do," Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said at the institute's annual aerospace medicine conference.
Selection of astronauts would take 12-14 months, according to IAM Commandant Air Commodore Anupam Agarwal. Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said ISRO Chairman K.Sivan has discussed the project with him and the astronauts would be selected and trained at IAM and other places once the specific requirements of the flyers are finalised.
First Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who went of Soyuz T-11 in 1984 and fellow test pilot and back-up cosmonaut Ravish Malhotra were trained at the IAM and the then Soviet Union during 1982-84.
Air Commodore Agarwal said, "We have to choose astronauts trainees not just for today but also for the next ten years. After spending crores of rupees we cannot afford to lose them" for reasons of fitness. Pscychological strengthening would be an important part of their training - to stay calm, caring and alert while they worked in desolate and dangerous space. He said the challenge of Gaganyaan is bigger as we are the only nation that decided to send man to space first before experiment with animals - which Russia, the U.S., Europe and China did.
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#409
by
Zed_Noir
on 16 Sep, 2018 09:16
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The following news report provides very valuable information about the India's Human Space Flight and the manrating of GSLV MK-III
ISRO tweaking rocket to make it safe for human space flight
<snip>
"When the GSLV Mk III was designed in the 2000-2002 time-frame, one of the important aspects addressed was that it must ultimately become a vehicle that takes a human to space. We were directed to keep the design conditions in such a way that acceleration, reliability, safety, vibration and other aspects are all addressed. This is why we are confidently speaking of a human space flight because all this is linked to the development of the GSLV Mk III," he said on Saturday.
"Once the D1 GSLV Mk III happened in 2017, we have become more and more confident that the human space flight is possible to achieve. The GSLV Mk III is an intelligent system with built-in redundacies but for a final human rating, the redundancies needed are of a higher order. We are working on it," Somanath said.
The GSLV Mk III is more or less the Titan 3E. Which make it not that great a choice as a man-rated launcher with the historic look back at the Titan family of launchers with large solid boosters.
It seems the Indian government is gambling on no major mishaps with the GSLV Mk III in order to send up Indian astronauts earlier without developing a more suitable launcher. Which will take the better part of a decade.
Time will tell if this was a wise decision.
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#410
by
GClark
on 16 Sep, 2018 12:54
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123 Titan III/IV were launched.
2 were lost due to SRB failures.
Looks like pretty good odds to me...
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#411
by
Zed_Noir
on 16 Sep, 2018 13:04
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123 Titan III/IV were launched.
2 were lost due to SRB failures.
Looks like pretty good odds to me...
And how many failures overall with those 123 launches?
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#412
by
GClark
on 16 Sep, 2018 18:53
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Including those, five.
A further ten reached orbit but were left in the wrong orbit, there was a transtage explosion, etc.
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#413
by
vineethgk
on 21 Sep, 2018 23:14
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ISRO intends to build Third Launch Pad at Sriharikota for the Gaganyaan HSF missionThe Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is setting up a third launch pad at Sriharikota to undertake the Gaganyaan manned space flight programme, an ISRO official said on Friday.
“We have two launch pads currently, which are already full. A third launch pad is being set up for the human space flight. It will be ready in time for the mission,” a senior ISRO official said.
ISRO will use its GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which can carry the heavier payload of the Gaganyaan, and this will take off from the new launch pad.
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#414
by
chetan_chpd
on 22 Sep, 2018 20:12
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#415
by
worldtimedate
on 23 Sep, 2018 07:41
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India's manned space mission 2022: Need pool of 30 potential astronautsOne such institution, the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) under IAF, which evaluated tens of candidates before selecting Wing Commander (retd) Rakesh Sharma for his mission in 1984, will be responsible for astronaut selection as confirmed by Sivan.
Besides, Air Commodore Anupam Agarwal, Commandant, IAM, says they've offered help in four other crucial areas: Basic and some advance training; human engineering of the crew capsule and the habitat module; assessment of cabin air quality and the flight surgeon support.
For a 3-astronaut mission, we would need 30 candidates: Air Commodore Anupam Agarwal
Astronaut SelectionFirst things first, the astronaut selection. "...We'll need a pool of 30 aspirants, of whom, 15 will be picked and given basic training. If the plan is to send three, we'll shortlist three sets of three (nine) and let one set go about three months before the launch with the others remaining in the programme till launch date. This'll take about three months as we have to ensure we pick the best, whose physical condition is among the best in India and they also have the right mental make up. A fixed set of tests will be conducted before selection," Agarwal said.
After three months, a pool of potential astronauts will be selected who will then undergo a series of rigorous evaluation tests: How they deal with isolation; Can they handle physiological changes occurring during a spaceflight caused by extreme temperatures and otherwise; Disorientation and decision making and so on.
Experts from all these fields will be roped in, while IAM will teach them medicine. "They'll need to take care of each other. They'll be trained in all basic first aid, and other aspects. Eye injuries are common in space and they can make astronauts critical, while there's something as simple as vomiting that can cause issues," he says.
Simulators & Human EngineeringFor all this, IAM has a host of simulators: Systems that can simulate from - 20 degree centigrade to 60 degrees; dry flotation simulators that can simulate microgravity, and others like the "head down tilt" simulator for the same purpose. There is a simulator that can create pressure six times that of atmospheric pressure (60 meters depth of sea water) and pressure which levels like those found at one lakh feet, which is one of the definitions of beginning of space. The institute also boasts of a human centrifuge - not too many countries have this - which creates high G-forces. The disorientation simulation, which helps train in 13 llusions that create disorientation, will help in training with motion sickness desensitisation.
Flight SurgeonAgarwal said the flight surgeon support, a critical aspect of a spaceflight will be provided by IAM. "This is very crucial as each astronaut will have his own surgeon who will be with him from two years before the launch, during his stay at space and until he is recovered upon recovery," he said.
He said currently the only advanced training that the IAM cannot offer astronauts is that of the systems which need specific simulators - "but this can be developed," he says - and the complete parabolic flight training, for which India may have to look outside.
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#416
by
worldtimedate
on 23 Sep, 2018 23:44
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#417
by
worldtimedate
on 24 Sep, 2018 07:04
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India seeks Russia's help for Gaganyaan mission to put man in space by 2022India has sought cooperation from Russia in specific areas of its manned space programme - life-support systems, crew modules and training of astronauts - to fulfil its mission of putting an Indian in space by 2022, according to officials familiar with the development. If successful, India will be the fourth country in the world to launch a manned space mission after Russia, the US and China.
Russia has been a close partner of India in space programmes for four decades, with the cooperation extending to lunar and Mars missions. The former Soviet Union helped launch India's first two satellites, Aryabhata and Bhaskara. In 2004, India and Russia signed two space-related agreements during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit.
The strengthening of cooperation in this field, including helping India for the manned space mission, came up during a meeting in Moscow between Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Russia's deputy prime minister for defence and space industry Yuriy Borisov about a week ago.
"The two sides discussed threadbare the space cooperation at that meeting and decided to strengthen their ties in the field of joint scientific research and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. In this context, particular discussion took place on the human space programme, including life support system, crew module and astronaut training," said a diplomat who asked not to be named.
Soon after Modi's August 15 announcement, the chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) confirmed the timeline for the human space programme and said the pilots and the crew would spend at least seven days in space. "(The) PM has given the target of 2022, and it's our duty to meet it," Isro chief K Sivan said last month.
A second Indian space programme official said India has completed several technologies linked to the human space programme, on which it has been working since 2014, and Russian help would complement India's efforts. "We have credible prowess in this field. For example, we have creditably and credibly competed some technologies such as the escape system and crew module," the official said.
The manned mission is expected to cost Isro around $1.45 billion, according to the space agency. India has also lined up two unmanned expeditions before the human space programme takes off. Former Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair said, "We certainly have the capability to launch a human space mission by 2022." He said the 2022 target for a human space mission will be 'achievable' with Russia's help in a few areas.
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#418
by
worldtimedate
on 01 Oct, 2018 06:11
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Russia may train Indian astronauts at ISSIndian astronauts may get an opportunity to fly onboard a Russian shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS) for a hands-on training session before they crew the nation's first manned mission to the low earth orbit.
Moscow of late conveyed to New Delhi that it could take the crew of the 'Gaganyaan' - the proposed first manned space mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) - to the ISS for a real "out-of-the-world" training session. The details of the proposal are likely to be discussed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in New Delhi next Friday.
If New Delhi accepts Moscow's offer, it could relive a high point in India-Russia cooperation - Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma's historic April 1984 flight on board the Soviet shuttle Soyuz T 11 to Salyut 7 space station.
A review of bilateral cooperation in space exploration and research, as well as the application of space technology, is likely to be high on the agenda of the summit between Prime Minister and Russian President. The two sides are likely to explore ways to expand cooperation in the field of the human space programme, particularly on life support system, crew module and training of astronauts sources aware of the agenda of the summit told the DH.
With the ISRO planning to launch the Gaganyaan by December 2021, the Roscosmos - the space agency of the government of Russian Federation offered to help train the crew of the first manned space mission of India. Moscow conveyed to New Delhi that the Roscosmos could arrange training for the ISRO astronauts, not only at its facilities in Russia, but also at the Russian Orbital Segment of the ISS, sources said in New Delhi.
The Roscosmos' offer to help train the ISRO astronauts in Russia as well as at the ISS was discussed when External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Yuri Borisov, met in Moscow on September 14 and co-chaired the meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation. It was also discussed when Dmitry Rogozin, the Director General of the Roscosmos, visited New Delhi on September 25. Rogozin met Modi's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to discuss the issues related to bilateral space cooperation ahead of the summit between Prime Minister and Russian President.
New Delhi sought more details from Moscow about the proposal to train the ISRO astronauts at the ISS. "A decision could be taken only when we would know the expenses required for sending our astronauts to the ISS and whether we could afford it," said a source who asked not to be identified. "Russia is an old friend of India and we hope we can work it out with them."
Modi-Putin summit in New Delhi on October 5 is also likely to give both sides an opportunity to review and discuss the expansion of cooperation in advanced technologies in remote sensing of earth, ground stations for satellite navigation system and space solar power systems.
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#419
by
chetan_chpd
on 04 Oct, 2018 04:45
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/not-only-defence-putins-india-visit-to-boost-cooperation-in-space-energy-sectors-too/articleshow/66061470.cms---by "indrani bagchi"
"On Friday, after formal delegation talks India and Russia are expected to sign a set of key pacts. While the defence agreement will hog the headlines, India and Russia are also expected to announce a new space cooperation mechanism. This was put in motion after Modi announced that
India would send a man to the moon by 2022."
"Russia has also offered to train an Indian cosmonaut to travel to its portion of the International Space Station as part of the
preparation for the manned moon travel."
---this lady who was given the responsibility to write the article, clearly is lacking knowledge of recent space activities.