After successfully launching Aditya-L1, India’s first mission to study the sun, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for another complex task. Preparations are in full swing for testing the crew escape system and crew module of the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission using a specially designed test vehicle, S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), said on Monday.
The Test Vehicle D-1/Crew Escape System mission can be expected in the second half of October, Dr. Unnikrishnan Nair, who is back in Thiruvananthapuram after the Aditya-L1 launch, told The Hindu. The unmanned test, which will be carried out in transonic speeds, is intended to demonstrate ISRO’s capability to safely recover the Gaganyaan crew in the event of an in-flight decision to abort the mission.
