[Todays Biggest Event] GSLV Mark III, Indias Largest Rocket, Blasts Off Successfully: 10 Developments Indias space agency today successfully launched its heaviest rocket ever – the 630-tonne, three-stage Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III – with an experimental crew module. The mission will take the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO a step closer to sending astronauts to space. Here are 10 facts about the mission: 1. The rocket, launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, is 42.4 meters tall and costs about Rs. 160 crore. 2. The rocket is capable of doubling the capacity of payloads India can carry into space. It can carry four tonne communication satellites. Once ISRO masters this rocket, India wont need expensive foreign launchers to send its heavy-duty communication satellites to space. 3. On this flight, the rocket is being tested on how it performs while traveling in the atmosphere. Its first two stages are active rocket engines and the third stage, which consists of the cryogenic engine, is passive. 4. The heavy-duty cryogenic engine necessary for this rocket is still being developed by ISRO. A full-fledged launch of the rocket can be expected in a few years. 5. The GSLV Mk III is a new rocket design and marks the beginning of what could be Indias initiation into the ambitious human space flight programme. Its main passenger is an Indian-made crew module. 6. The crew module is unmanned but the small room-sized cupcake-shaped satellite is capable of carrying two or three astronauts into space. 7. The crew module, powered by its own engine, was navigated and made to re-enter the atmosphere at a massive velocity. It was slowed down with massive parachutes, the largest ever to be used by India, before it splashed down in the Bay of Bengal. 8. ISRO has said it can fly astronauts to space using a made-in-India rocket within seven to eight years of getting the governments clearance for its astronaut programme. 9. The space agency has sought around Rs. 12,500 cr for its human space flight mission. When it happens, India will become the fourth country in the world to have the technology of sending humans into space. 10. Russia, the US and China are the only nations to have the technology for this complex mission.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 11:28:04 +0000
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