NEW DELHI: India’s maiden human space mission Gaganyaan will be using indigenously manufactured special “drouge parachute” to bring the crew safely back to earth.
“The parachutes are being manufactured by the Ordnance Equipment Factory, Hazratpur. A dozen sets of the parachutes have been handed over to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),” said a source.
Of the total 28 sets, 16 will be handed over by August this year, added the source. The parachute set is a space recovery system. The ambitious Gaganyaan project envisages the demonstration of indigenous human spaceflight capability in which a 3-member crew will be launched into an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission. The crew will land safely on Earth in Indian seawater.
Each set of these parachutes comprises four different types and are crucial for safely transporting astronauts to and from space by reducing velocity during re-entry.
One essential aspect of this mission is the use of drouge parachutes, “which play a pivotal role in stabilizing the module and reducing the velocity during re-entry.”
These parachutes are made of a special fabric that includes Nylon 66 with an ignition temperature of 250 degrees Celsius. The rigging lines, chords and tapes are also special with their melting point at 427 degree C.
Explaining the mechanism and impact of the parachutes once deployed, a source said, “It is a bunch of 10 parachutes and will be set in action as the capsule containing the crew reaches an altitude of 7 km from the earth.”
“Two Apex Cover Separation (ACS) parachutes will pull the cap off and set the two drouge parachutes to open, arresting the free fall and decelerating the fall up to 190 meter per second.”
It will bring the capsule up to 4.5 km. And, then a set of three pilot parachutes takes charge which act as the trigger for opening the main canopies which are three in number, thus bringing the descent speed to 10/12 metre per second.
Keeping such complex and specialized functioning, these parachutes are termed a recovery system which will bring the capsule carrying the crew to zero impact in atmospheric conditions, said the source.