Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has conducted a successful test of the main parachutes for the Gaganyaan Crew Module at the Babina Field Firing Range (BFFR) in Jhansi.This test is part of the ongoing series of Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Tests (IMAT) for the qualification of the parachute system for Gaganyaan Mission.
For the Gaganyaan Crew Module, the parachute system comprises a total of 10 parachutes of 4 types. The descent sequence began with two apex cover separation parachutes that remove the protective cover of the parachute compartment, followed by two drogue parachutes that stabilise and decelerate the module, ISRO said in a statement. “Upon release of the drogues, three pilot parachutes are deployed to extract three main parachutes, which further slow down the Crew Module to ensure a safe touchdown.
The system is designed with redundancy–two of the three main parachutes are sufficient to achieve a safe landing,” the space organisation said. The main parachutes of the Gaganyaan missiondeploy in a step-by-step process known as reefed inflation. In this process, the parachute first opens partially, which is called reefing, and then fully opens after a predetermined period of time, known as disreefing. This process is carried out using pyro device.In this test, one of the possible extreme scenarios of delay in the disreefing between the two main parachutes was successfully demonstrated validating the main parachutes for the maximum design.
