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#820 by lucspace on 08 Mar, 2024 14:58
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From NDTV; views of a 1:3 Gaganyaan spacecraft mockup and a possible programme logo
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#821 by FutureSpaceTourist on 15 Mar, 2024 06:26
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https://twitter.com/chethan_dash/status/1768495759257747853Quote
After Nair, Krishnan, Prathap & Shukla, in a firm indication that #Gaganyaan will not be a one-off show of strength but a prog for sustained human presence, process to select 2nd #astronauts batch could begin in 6 months. (watch this till end; also: 2nd video in thread). 1/n
Current astronaut training centre in Bengaluru is designed to cater only to demands of the first mission under #Gaganyaan and @isro will build a larger training facility. 2/n
As I’d reported earlier, Isro is considering multiple locations for this, including Challakere in Chitradurga, some 200km from Bengaluru and Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city, where Isro already has a guest house. 3/n
Sources now indicate that the larger facility — most likely in Devanahalli although Challakere is not ruled out yet — could accommodate 25-30 astronauts and maybe even their families. 4/n
Isro chairman S Somanath said in an exclusive interview: “We’ve not made such a plan yet as it is yet to evolve…It is clear that the Gaganyaan programme has to continue… 5/n
…So, we need to induct additional crew members and that process, maybe, should start in six months. We’ll work with IAF to identify a new set of crew members… It may not be in tens, maybe only four.” 6/n
The new members will get trained for follow-on Gaganyaan missions, he said. “...Periodicity of Gaganyaan missions won’t be very frequent to start with becasue for sustained missions we will also need the space station to be ready… 7/n
…We’re only building that (first unit) by 2028, which won’t be human-capable. It will take more time for that. So, where the final astronaut facility will be decided later,” Somanath added. 8/n
He said, at Devanahalli, Isro is building the Environment Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) facility and technical facilities for the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), which is currently using UR Rao Satellite Centre’s space. 9/n
ECLSS is a critical technology for astronauts’ health during the flight, during their time in space and during the return, and Isro, which initially had plans of procuring this technology is now developing everything from scratch. 10/n
Could only 1 astronaut go on #Gaganyaan 1st mission? It’s not ruled out! While initial plans was to send “two-three” #astronauts to space, the selection of only 4 was indicative that only 2 may be sent going by global practice of shortlisting. 11/n
“I cannot tell how many will eventually go. The three uncrewed missions and abort missions must be completed, even after which there could be residual issues. So it depends on how confident we are at the end of that. A nat'l committee will decide later,” Somanath said. 12/n
“...We’re building it for two people, not three…While we’re building it for two, we could even decide to send only one, but we need not take that decision now,” he added. 13/n
All 4 #Gaganyaan astronauts-elect will go to US by end of 2024 to train & become part of crew that will go to @Space_Station — which was announced during PM Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington. 14/n
“While all four will go to train, only one will go to the ISS. The primary astronaut will go through full-fledged training, the back-up one will train a little less. The other two will also go for ground-level training,” Somanath said. n/n -
#822 by FutureSpaceTourist on 16 Mar, 2024 14:02
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Full interview:Quote
Isro Chairman S Somanath, in an exclusive interview to TOI’s Chethan Kumar on March 12, spoke about multiple Space projects India is currently implementing and gave a sneak peek into what may lie ahead. From when the selection of the second batch of astronauts could begin to what stage the proposal for Chandrayaan-4 is and from need to correct alignment of payloads on India’s Sun mission (Aditya-L1) to how many astronauts could go as part of the first Gaganyaan mission, he spoke at length on a variety of issues. He also addressed the issue of manpower and spoke about the New Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) which is critical for building India’s space station and eventually sending humans to Moon. Watch full interview more details.
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#823 by JSz on 06 May, 2024 10:20
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Another delay in the programme: unmanned Gaganyaan test flights will not begin until 2025. They want to be able to carry out a manned launch the same next year:Quote
Isro chairman S Somanath, during an event organised by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), in Ahmedabad on April 17, had outlined the upcoming schedule, indicating that after an airdrop test on April 24, two more uncrewed missions are slated for the following year, leading up to the manned mission by the end of the year.
https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/isro-to-have-second-trial-flight-of-unmanned-gaganyaan-mission-today-124042400356_1.html -
#824 by soyuzu on 31 May, 2024 14:39
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Another delay in the programme: unmanned Gaganyaan test flights will not begin until 2025. They want to be able to carry out a manned launch the same next year:
QuoteIsro chairman S Somanath, during an event organised by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), in Ahmedabad on April 17, had outlined the upcoming schedule, indicating that after an airdrop test on April 24, two more uncrewed missions are slated for the following year, leading up to the manned mission by the end of the year.
https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/isro-to-have-second-trial-flight-of-unmanned-gaganyaan-mission-today-124042400356_1.html
Does uncrewed orbital missions reduced from 3 to 2? -
#825 by JSz on 31 May, 2024 21:35
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Does uncrewed orbital missions reduced from 3 to 2?
I remember that two unmanned orbital test flights of Gaganyaan were planned from the beginning. I don't really know where Wikipedia got the information about three.
Two unmanned flights were commonly written about, as an example I hastily found an article from January 2022 (https://www.theweek.in/news/sci-tech/2022/01/25/exclusive-no-gaganyaan-unmanned-flight-this-year.html) for confirmation: "Gaganyaan comprises three flights of the GSLV Mk III to a lower earth orbit. The first two flights will be unmanned while the third will have a crew of two or three officers of the Indian Air Force." -
#826 by JSz on 13 Jul, 2024 16:38
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We received an infographic of India's manned programme after the first mission compiled from Indian sources:
https://twitter.com/VikranthJonna/status/1810984396490752268QuoteWe recently got more clarity into the continuation of Gaganyaan beyond the first crewed flight test.
This involves a loner duration mission, cargo missions to the ISS & BAS.
NOTE: Timeline is based off recent news sources and is much subject to change.
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#827 by JSz on 14 Jul, 2024 10:05
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Going further on the future of India's manned programme, an article on the future Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) has been published on https://idrw.org/isro-expands-bharatiya-antariksha-station-design-from-25-to-55tons/. According to earlier reports, the station is expected to be completed in 2035 (e.g. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/isro-space-station-first-module-launch-s-somanath-lvm-9079597/).
Meanwhile, the aforementioned new article shows a graphic of the BAS, but in a much larger size than the three-module design on the models shown earlier. The graphic shows five modules, all of similar size. The article says that the BAS is expected to have a mass of 52t, double the original 25t.
The graphic I am attaching to my post is marked with the ISRO logo, although I could not find this graphic on the ISRO website, but maybe I was looking wrong. According to the information posted on the graphic:
- mass 52 t (this suggests that each module will have an average mass of about 10 t),
- dimensions 27 m x 20 m (not really these proportions correspond with the graphic),
- crew 3-4 persons, maximum 6 (6 astronauts only for short periods),
- orbit 400-450 km (like the ISS and CSS),
- an inclination of 51.5 degrees (like the ISS, which will then no longer exist, and more than the CSS).
I am not sure if this is indeed the ISRO concept. But it is clear that in the 11 years to 2035 these concepts will change many more times, will be scaled down and up, while the time of its construction will be pushed to the right many times, as with all such long-term concepts. But it is pleasant to look at...
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#828 by Tywin on 20 Jul, 2024 18:04
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Maybe is time to have a thread for the BAS station plan?
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#829 by JSz on 21 Jul, 2024 08:32
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Maybe is time to have a thread for the BAS station plan?
I have created a new thread dedicated to BAS: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=61217.0. -
#830 by JSz on 03 Aug, 2024 08:16
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Is it to be deduced from this that the other two are envisaged for the main crew of Gaganyaan-1?
https://twitter.com/Chethan_Dash/status/1819368470011683254QuoteGp Capts Prashanth Nair & Shubhanshu Shukla picked to go to US. Shukla will be prime mission pilot while Nair will be a backup. This comes over a yr after PM Modi, during his state visit said an Indian astronaut will travel to @Space_Station.