First batch of Crew Recovery Team completes Phase-I training
The first batch of Crew Recovery Team of Mission Gaganyaan completed the first phase of training at the Indian Navy's Water Survival Training Facility in Kochi. A team of divers and marine commandos from the Indian Navy underwent recovery training of the crew module in various sea conditions.
The two-week long exercise provided exposure to mission conduct, response to a medical emergency and familiarization with various aircraft and their rescue equipment.
Standard Operating Procedures developed jointly by the Indian Navy and ISRO were also issued during the training. ISRO's Human Space Flight Center Director Dr. Mohan M. inspected and interacted with the members on the concluding day of the exercise. The trained crew will now be involved in activities scheduled by ISRO in the coming months.
What is Gaganyaan Mission
Gaganyaan is a mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). There will be three phases in this mission, out of these three phases, 2 will be unmanned and one phase will be manned. Gaganyaan is a fully autonomous three-tonne spacecraft capsule designed to carry a 3-member crew into orbit and return them safely to Earth after a mission duration of up to two days in some orbits. Three Indian astronauts, including a woman, will be involved in this mission. In the mission, the Earth's low earth orbit will revolve for 7 days.
Gaganyaan Space Craft
The Gaganyaan spacecraft has two parts – the crew module and the service module.
- Crew Module: Crew module is the part where astronauts from India will sit. Planning has been done to send two or three astronauts in this craft. The crew module weighs 3725 kg. After the astronauts are seated and the safe material is placed, its weight will be 5300 kg.
- Service Module: Service Module is the part of the spacecraft where fuel is kept to run it. It can also be different from the spacecraft. The service module will weigh approximately 2900 kg and thus the total weight of the Gaganyaan spacecraft will be approximately 8200 kg.