ISRO: ISRO chief Somnath said, the agency will send women fighter test pilots in future manned missions.

Posted on 23rd Oct 2023 by rohit kumar

ISRO chief S Somnath on Sunday said women combat test pilots will be sent to space in future manned missions. He clarified that at present there is very little possibility of sending women pilots to Gaganyaan because there are no women test pilots. When they become available in the future, they will be given priority.

 

It is noteworthy that by spending about Rs 9 thousand crores, India is working on the Gaganyaan mission to send 3 astronauts to space for three days. Special care is being taken regarding all its aspects especially the safety of astronauts. The first Gaganyaan flight test took place on Saturday itself, in which the crew-escape module was successfully tested. The mission can be sent in late 2024 or 2025. Indian Space Research Organization Chairman Somnath said, \'There is no doubt that women pilots can be given priority, but we will have to explore this possibility in the future. At present, the initial candidates have been selected from among the fighter test pilots of the Indian Air Force. He is a different class of pilot. At present, we do not have female fighter test pilots. This will be thought about when she is there.

 

Scientists will become astronauts, and then the possibilities for women will increase.

Somnath said, that when scientific activities will increase, only scientists can be made astronauts. She is confident that the possibilities for women will increase at that time. ISRO will also send a robot, which has been designed to look like a woman, in an unmanned flight during the tests of the Gaganyaan mission.

 

The space station will start functioning by 2035

Somnath said that ISRO has set a target of establishing India\'s space station in space by the year 2035. Its operation will also start in the same year. It is noteworthy that currently two space stations are established in space. Of these, the International Space Station (ISS) was sent jointly in 1998 by NASA (America), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (European Union), CSA (Canada) and JAXA (Japan). Whereas China sent the Tiangong Space Station in the year 2021.

 

If there is a glitch on the launch pad, the rescue system will fly the astronauts two and a half kilometers high.

In the first Gaganyaan test flight (TV-D1), ISRO demonstrated how the Crew Escape Module (CES) would rescue the astronauts in the crew module from an altitude of 17 km above the Earth in case of any mishap in the mission. With this, the curiosity has also increased that if an accident happens on the launch pad itself before the launch, then how will the CES system work? The answer is that if this happens, the CES system will fly at a height of 2.5 km carrying astronauts from the launch pad itself. It will land them at least 400 meters away from the launch pad.

 

In the research paper \'Evolution of Crew Escape System for Gaganyaan\' by ISRO Chairman S Somnath and four other scientists, it has been told that in case of any disturbance on the launch pad, the engines installed in CES can take the entire crew module to a height of 2.5 km. Are. 2.5 km because a pilot parashut system requires at least that much altitude to function properly.

 

Dangers, accidents, and fears

Missions to send humans into space are considered extremely dangerous. So far, 188 scientists, trainers, test pilots, astronauts, etc. have died in the world during such missions and their preparations. Of these, 19 astronauts have died in 5 accidents. According to US Air Force data, 2.3 percent of astronauts participating in missions die in such accidents.

 

Also Read: Gaganyaan Mission: Test flight of Gaganyaan Mission successful, Crew Escape capability tested