ISRO reaches new milestone with Vikas Engine test2 min read
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ISRO, the Indian government’s space wing, just tested a new engine for its Gaganyaan mission. Named the Vikas Engine, ISRO tested the durability of the engine in hot conditions.
For four stressful minutes, the Vikas Engine tested its liquid propellant and how much heat it could handle. The test site was the ISRO Propulsion Complex, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
ISRO said in a statement following the test that the Vikas Engine test proved that it met parameters and requirements for the test. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated ISRO after the successful test on Twitter.
Owliver’s Obscure Observation: The Gaganyaan programme is India’s first manned space mission and is scheduled to launch in 2023. It is designed to carry a crew of three people and orbit the Earth at a 400km altitude for a week or so.
Why is this a success?
When a country sends humans to space, it is considered a big achievement. Since missions like this need a lot more testing, they take a lot longer to finish.
ISRO has set a timetable already for unmanned tests of the rocket and Vikas Engine. Since they still have a decent amount of testing to do, they have set a launch for December of 2021 and one in 2022 or 2023.
ISRO will use its launcher the GSLV Mk III to launch the crew into space. This is a heavy-lift rocket. That means that it can carry heavier payloads such as crews and their supplies.
So far, ISRO has already trained four candidates to go onto the crewed missions once testing is complete.
We can’t wait to see ISRO pull off such an exciting launch!
Why has India taken so long to prepare a manned space mission? What are the challenges it faces in making this a success? Let us know in the comments below.
(All Things Sciences contains articles on science, space and other related topics.)
