India is on a mission to expand its scientific boundaries in space. Following successive strides in space technology, from the launch of Aryabhata (first satellite - April 19, 1975) to the latest endeavours of Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1, India will emerge as the fourth country, after the USSR/Russia, the US, and China to successfully launch a human into . Gaganyaan, the country’s first human spaceflight programme, will launch with astronauts on board in 2025, as per media reports.
In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented astronaut wings to IAF Group Captain P Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander S Shukla, who made the squad that will travel into space on board Gaganyaan, at a ceremony in the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, officially becoming ‘Gaganauts’.
According to ISRO: “The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to Earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.” With both anticipation and preparation, the efforts of ISRO will help India chart newer echelons in space exploration. Accordingly, this momentous mission calls for meticulous planning, ensuring safety and success of both crew and machine.
Few decades, big flights
Space has fascinated, as well as eluded humanity, since the dawn of time. In the distant past, our ancestors were awestruck by the even distant flickering dots in the night sky. Gradually, they began observing and noting phenomena, such as meteors and comets zipping through space and the rising and setting of the Sun. They developed equipment through which they could peek deeper into the sky, to unravel more mysteries. The invention of telescopes and monoculars, propoundment of the helio-centric and geo-centric theories, and comprehending conditions on Earth based on cosmic occurrences (eg. tides), were some of the learnings from space. Reverence transformed into curiosity, leading to effort, resulting in greater heights.
The space voyage truly took off in the 20th century. In the initial years, Soviet rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, US physicist Robert H Goddard, and Austro-Hungarian scientist Hermann Oberth published a range of works proposing rockets as the means for spaceflight, making significant theoretical and practical breakthroughs. The first successful large-scale rocket programmes were initiated in Nazi Germany by aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun.
After World War II, space became the new theatre of scientific warfare, where the Soviets and Americans engaged in bitter rivalries during the Cold War. This Space Race led to space exploration on an unparalleled scale, beyond the influence of Earth. The USSR launched the planet’s first artificial satellite Sputnik I on October 4, 1957, much to the shock of experts and citizens in the US, who had hoped that their country would accomplish this scientific advancement first. Exactly a month later, the Soviets launched ‘Laika’, a dog from the Moscow streets, which flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft in low orbit. Sadly, a lack of de-orbit technology at that time meant that Laika would not survive, and accordingly died of overheating hours into the flight, on the craft’s fourth orbit.
The Soviets were cruising ahead on their space flight. The nation not only successfully launched the first man in space, but also the first woman. On April 12, 1961, Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin undertook the first successful crewed spaceflight, becoming the first human to journey into outer space. Travelling on Vostok 1, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth, with his flight taking 108 minutes. Vostok’s reentry was controlled by a computer, and eventually Gagarin ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute. Similarly, on June 16, 1963, Soviet engineer Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, flying on a solo mission aboard Vostok 6, circling the Earth 48 times over a three-day period.
In the meantime, US Navy test pilot Alan Shepard, who joined the astronaut programme in 1959, became the first American and the second man in space on May 5, 1961, when he piloted the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 on a 490-km, 15-minute suborbital flight. Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight programme of the US, running from 1958 through 1963.
With Earth orbit achieved, humans turned their sights on the Moon. On July 21, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the lunar surface, with the legendary quote: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” He stepped out of the Apollo 11 lunar module and onto the Moon’s surface, in an area called the ‘Sea of Tranquility’. Five more manned missions followed. In later years, manned space stations came into being, and NASA developed reusable spacecraft — space shuttle orbiters, through the Space Shuttle Programme, to ferry astronauts and cargo to orbit and back, between 1981 and 2011. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.
On April 3, 1984, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (Retd) flew aboard Soyuz T-11, as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme, becoming the first Indian in space. On October 12, 2003, Yang Liwei became the first Chinese taikonaut, to fly into space as part of Shenzhou 5, the first Chinese human spaceflight. According to Space Foundation’s human spaceflight data, as of November 7, 2023, 676 people have journeyed to space (by the US definition of an altitude of 80 km), of whom, 643 have reached the Karman line, internationally recognised at 100 km.
Safety for our future
Call them astronauts (the US), cosmonauts (Russia), taikonauts (China), or gaganauts (India), their voyages depict the massive advancement of space-travel technology in just six decades. Apart from the equipment and vehicles used on their journeys, the thing that stands out in human spaceflight is the human element. Along with the knowledge, skills and courage of humans to map uncharted territory, it is the training to prepare physically and mentally to survive in an alien environment that counts. Farther into space, a unique microgravity environment exists, which require astronauts to adapt to through simulations mimicking weightlessness. NASA’s training programme includes parabolic flights and training in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which is a large swimming pool that allow astronauts to practise spacewalks and work in pressurised spacesuits.
Survival training equips astronauts with skills to cope with and duly act in extreme conditions. These situations also require them to be mentally strong, which will further aid in handling the isolation, confinement, and separation that come with long-haul space missions. Meanwhile, critical mission-specific training covers aspects such as launch, flight controls, trouble-shooting, docking, scientific equipment, and emergency procedures.
The Gaganyaan team is undergoing rigorous training in various areas too. In 2020, they were sent to Russia for generic space flight training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. “The Astronaut Training Facility established in Bengaluru caters to classroom training, physical fitness training, simulator training and flight suit training. Training modules cover academic courses, Gaganyaan flight systems, micro-gravity familiarisation through parabolic flights, aero-medical training, recovery and survival training, mastering of flight procedures and training on crew training simulators. Aero medical training, periodical flying practice and Yoga are also included,” informs ISRO.
When Back Home
Astronauts returning to Earth after months, through the microgravity, perils of re-entry and hard landing, require thorough acclimatisation. Once astronauts land, their whole body – including muscles, bones, inner ear, and organs – starts readjusting to Earth’s gravity. They often report feeling dizzy, light-headed, nauseated, and off-balance upon their return. If you stay for a while in space, the body fluids balance out, and facial swelling typically begins to disappear after a few weeks. Conversely, astronauts returning to earth often experience dizziness when standing up, known as ‘orthostatic hypotension’. These symptoms can last for several days, until they get their “land legs”. Many are kept under quarantine and medical observation.