Chennai, Dec 10 (UNI) Achieving yet another milestone, the Indian Navy
and ISRO has successfully carried out welldeck recovery trails for the Crew
Module of Gaganyaan (India's first manned human spaceflight mission) on
December six.
The trials were carried out at Eastern Naval Command using
welldeck ship off the coast of Vishakhapatnam, ISRO said in
an update.
The successful recovery trials marked yet another major step ahead
of the prestigious mission, planned for next year.
It said Well deck in a ship can be flooded with water so that boats,
landing crafts, recovered spacecrafts can be taken inside to
dock within the ship.
Once Crew Module (CM) touches down in the sea at the end
of the mission, crew have to be recovered in the minimum
possible time and with the least discomfort, it said.
One of the preferred options is to tow the Crew Module along
with the crew inside the well deck of the ship where the crew
can come out of the Crew Module comfortably.
The trials for carrying out well deck recovery were carried out
using a mass and shape simulated Crew Module Mock-up.
The sequence of operations for welldeck recovery of Crew
Module was carried out by Indian Navy and ISRO during the
trials.
The sequence include the attachment of the recovery buoy,
towing, entering into the well deck ship, positioning of CM
on the fixture and draining of the well-deck.
This trial validated the overall sequence of operations, ground
fixtures and will help in fine tuning the Standard Operating
Procedures (SOP).
This trial is part of the series of recovery trials being carried
out by Indian Navy and ISRO to finalise the SOPs for recovery
operations for nominal as well as off-nominal conditions.
(ED : PICKUP SUITABLY FROM EARLIER SERIES).
UNI GV 2034