Bangalore, India : India's space agency Thursday successfully conducted a test for the recovery of a space capsule at a centre in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The module test, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, was the third and last one conducted by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) using a helicopter.
It was a pre-cursor to the first flight of the space capsule recovery experiment (SRE) module next year. The earlier two tests were held in June.
According to ISRO sources, the SRE will demonstrate India's capability to recover an orbiting space capsule and help the country join the elite club of six entities that have this technology and expertise.
These are the space agencies of the US, France, Russia, China and Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA) of the European Union.
"The SRE payload is scheduled to be launched on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota during the second half of 2005 as a co-passenger with Cartosat-2, a remote sensing satellite," said a source.
"After the experiment, ISRO will develop the first 500-kg recoverable capsule and its associated technologies."
The SRE will remain in orbit for a few days to perform experiments in micro-gravity environment. The capsule will then re-enter the earth's atmosphere.
http://isro.org/pressrelease/Aug19_2004.htm
http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=45106
The module test, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, was the third and last one conducted by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) using a helicopter.
It was a pre-cursor to the first flight of the space capsule recovery experiment (SRE) module next year. The earlier two tests were held in June.
According to ISRO sources, the SRE will demonstrate India's capability to recover an orbiting space capsule and help the country join the elite club of six entities that have this technology and expertise.
These are the space agencies of the US, France, Russia, China and Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA) of the European Union.
"The SRE payload is scheduled to be launched on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota during the second half of 2005 as a co-passenger with Cartosat-2, a remote sensing satellite," said a source.
"After the experiment, ISRO will develop the first 500-kg recoverable capsule and its associated technologies."
The SRE will remain in orbit for a few days to perform experiments in micro-gravity environment. The capsule will then re-enter the earth's atmosphere.
http://isro.org/pressrelease/Aug19_2004.htm
http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=45106
