Nellore: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Thursday successfully tested a crew escape system (CES) that will allow astronauts in future human flights to escape in the event of an emergency. The CES quickly pulls the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the rocket in the event of a launch abort. The first ‘Pad Abort Test’ demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module.
After a smooth countdown of five hours, the CES along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonne, lifted off at 7 am from the spaceport at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shar, Sriharikota on Thursday. The test was over in 259 seconds, during which the CES along with crew module soared skyward, then arched out over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota.
The CES reached an altitude of nearly 2.7 km using its seven specially designed motors to take the module to a safe distance without exceeding the safe g-levels.
Nearly 300 sensors recorded various mission performance parameters during the test flight. Three recovery boats were deployed to retrieve the module as part of the recovery protocol. Isro chairman Dr K Sivan witnessed the experiment along with directors of various centres at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Isro will conduct more tests to establish the trustworthiness of the CES.
