FEATURE ARTICLE Mission Gaganyaan India’s Biggest Space Challenge Anand Kumar Sharma HE Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is escape system, thermal protection, deceleration and flotation expanding its wings to one more vertical – indigenous systems and re-entry capability. The total programme cost of T Human Spaceflight Programme. On 2 April 1984, Gaganyaan is now expected to be within Rs 10,000 crores. Rakesh Sharma an Indian Air Force pilot flew aboard Soyuz The cost includes technology development, flight hardware T-11, launched, as part of the Interkosmos programme. realization and essential infrastructure establishment. Now, ISRO is working on an Indian crewed orbital mission – Gaganyaan – that would take Indian astronauts to space by 2022. Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) India could potentially become the fourth country to send ISRO created a Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) on 30 a man in space, after the erstwhile USSR, the US and China. January 2019 at the ISRO Headquarter campus in Bengaluru. Denmark also has a manned space flight scheduled for 2022. The responsibilities of the HSFC include end-to-end mission ISRO is therefore giving the topmost priority to Ganganyaan planning, development of engineering systems for crew survival Mission and looking for all possibilities of launch by December in space, crew selection and training and also pursuing activities 2021. for sustained human space flight missions. The HSFC will function as a nodal agency with the Gaganyaan Objectives existing ISRO centres support the implementation and testing Gaganyaan will be the first Indian crewed orbital spacecraft of spacecraft. under the Human Space Flight programme of ISRO. It is scheduled to be launched with the powerful GSLV Mk III rocket Gaganyaan Orbiter by 2022 to commemorate the 75th year of India’s Independence. In the Gaganyaan composite capsule, the crew module is mated Gaganyaan consists of a service module and a crew to the service module, and together they are called the orbital module, collectively known as the orbital capsule. The current craft. The craft will be equipped with emergency mission abort plan is to have two unmanned and one manned flight under and emergency escape system that can be exercised at the first Gaganyaan Programme. The first un-crewed flight is planned stage or second stage of the rocket burn. In future crewed flights in December 2020 and second in July 2021. Following two of ISRO, an upgraded version of the spacecraft with rendezvous successful unmanned flights, first crewed mission is scheduled and docking capabilities is also envisaged. in December 2021. The launch mass of Gaganyaan composite orbiter will Spacecraft carrying people may be operated by human be approximately 7800 kg (3,735 kg dry mass). The craft is crew, or remotely operated from ground stations or may planned to be built as double walled with six outer panels in be autonomous. The Gaganyaan is a largely autonomous semi-cylindrical shape. Double wall is used to thermally isolate spacecraft. The crewed spacecraft is intended to orbit in the the craft from varying external heat loads. The crew module low Earth orbit for 5-7 days and then bring back the crew with capacity to carry 2-3 astronauts and a volume of about module safely. 8 m3 will have controlled cabin environment. During the The main objective of the Gaganyaan mission is mission, crew will carry out a microgravity experiment. technology demonstration. The programme will source 60-70% Service module decks are populated with various components and value-added services from Indian industries. housekeeping elements and propulsion tanks. It will also house During the early years of planning, the cost was estimated at the instruments for servicing of the crew module like life about Rs 12,400 crore. support and environmental control system. ISRO has already developed and demonstrated many The service module will be powered by two bipropellant critical technologies like crew module configuration, crew liquid propellant engines. The craft will be powered by two 20 | Science Reporter | January 2020 GAGANYAAN : SYSTEMS Crew Module Orbital Module Service Module Gaganyaan composite capsule MANNED MISSION Solar array 5-7 Re-orientation (module changes direction) deployment days in space De-boost Orbit module Separation of crew and SPACE service modules EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE Aerobraking 16 min Parachute deployment to reach Splashdown off 36 mins low-earth Gujarat from orbit Re-entry de-boost De-boost to landing GSLV MK III lift off from Orbit module Splashdown at Sriharikota Descent trajectory separation Ascent trajectory Arabian sea off Gujarat Crew module recovery in 15-20 minutes COST: Less than LAUNCH: India to be the fourth nation to launch 10,000cr 2022 a manned spaceflight mission after the US, Russia and China Gaganyaan space voyage and crew module recovery plan January 2020 | Science Reporter | 21 Environmental hazards: Space environment is hostile. There is lack of gravity and atmosphere and danger of radiation. Astronauts may have medical issues with the hostile space environment. Microgravity: Transition from one gravity field to another affects hand-eye and head-eye coordination. In microgravity astronauts often lose their orientation, vision, muscle strength, aerobic capacity and bone density. In absence of gravity, bones lose minerals, hence the astronauts are at greater risk of osteoporosis-related fractures. Astronauts can lose up to twenty per cent of their muscle mass on spaceflights lasting five to eleven days. The consequent loss of strength could be a serious problem in case of a landing emergency. Astronauts have to exercise and maintain strict diet to remain healthy. The human blood starts boiling if there is no pressure; hence inside the crew acceptable atmospheric pressure has to be maintained. Radiation exposure: Though the radiation exposure is not of Deployment of CARE parachutes much consequence to Gaganyaan, it has relevance to our future human space flight programme. In space stations, astronauts receive over ten times higher radiation than what people are photovoltaic solar arrays, which are stowed in the launch subjected on the Earth. Radiation exposure may increase the configuration and are deployed after injection. Solar array with risk of cancer. It can damage the central nervous system and power generation capacity of 5-6 KW coupled with lithium ion weaken the immune system. Radiation can also cause nausea, batteries will provide the required power support. vomiting, anorexia and fatigue. Beyond low Earth orbit, the About 16 minutes after lift-off from the Satish Dhawan crew might be at risk from high-energy protons emitted by Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, the rocket will inject the solar flares that may cause radiation sickness and even death. spacecraft into an orbit, 300-400 km above the Earth. The capsule will rotate around the Earth every 90 minutes and Isolation: No matter how well astronauts are trained, astronauts will be able to witness sunrise and sunset. The behavioural issues are likely to crop up when astronauts are astronauts will be able to see India from space every 24 hours. confined into small spaces and have to rely on limited resources. The capsule is planned to orbit 5-7 days in space and Astronauts may encounter depression, cabin fever, fatigue, return. It will take about 36 hours for return and landing. When sleep disorder and other psychiatric disorders. the capsule is ready to land, the parachutes will be deployed for splashdown in the Bay of Bengal. Crew module is equipped Sensory systems: During spaceflight astronauts are in extreme with two parachutes for redundancy, while only one parachute environment state that may result in the weakening of their is good enough for safe splashdown. The parachutes would senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch, vestibular (motion reduce the speed of the crew module from over 216 m/s to and equilibrium system) and proprioception system (sense under 11 m/s at splashdown. of the relative position of one’s own parts of the body). The mental health of astronauts may be affected by the changes in Challenges for Gaganyaan the sensory systems during space travel. The Gaganyaan mission is so challenging because for the first time humans will be launched into space and must be brought Physiological and metabolic requirements: All the things back safely. Making a crew module where the astronauts can necessary for supporting physiological need of astronauts, like live in Earth-like conditions in space and bring the spacecraft food, water, medicine, and human waste removal have to be back to Earth after the flight are challenging. addressed. An astronaut requires approximately 5 kilograms All the elements and sub-systems planned to be used in of oxygen, food and water (oxygen, 0.84 kg; food, 0.62 kg; Gaganyaan require very careful verification and validation for and water, 3.54 kg) per day to perform the standard activities. human rating. ISRO is adopting a philosophy of quadruple An output as waste in similar range is expected (solid wastes, redundancy for the major active systems of Gaganyaan mission. 0.11 kg; liquid wastes, 3.89 kg and carbon dioxide, 1.00 kg). Redundancy is the multiplication of critical components or These levels can vary with the activity level of a specific functions of a system with the intention of increasing reliability mission, but the rule of basic mass balance will follow. of the system. Multiple redundancy of a system makes it very In addition to drinking, water is also consumed by the complex and the system reliability has to be very carefully crew for showering and washing activities. Hence, the actual examined. water use during the mission may typically be double of the In spite of utmost care, there are always formidable risks given value. Water must be stored, used economically and involved, such as: 22 | Science Reporter | January 2020 reclaimed from waste.