ISRO successfully tests astronaut escape feature

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday successfully carried out a ‘pad abort test’ of experimental space crew capsule, the first in a series of tests to qualify a Crew Escape System which is a critical technology relevant for human spaceflight.

After a smooth countdown of 5 hours, the Crew Escape System along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonnes, lifted off at 07.00 AM (IST) at the opening of the launch window from its pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, 110 km from here.

The Crew Escape System is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort.

“The first test (Pad Abort Test) demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency at the launch pad. The test was over in 259 seconds, during which the Crew Escape System along with crew module soared skyward, then arced out over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to Earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota,” ISRO said in a statement.

Scientists said this was a major breakthrough in India’s efforts to send manned missions to space. They said nearly 300 sensors recorded various mission performance parameters during the test flight. Three recovery boats are being exercised to retrieve the module as part of the recovery protocol.

“The crew module reached an altitude of nearly 2.7 km under the power of its seven specifically designed quick acting solid motors to take away the crew module to a safe distance without exceeding the safe g-levels,” the statement said.