View: Not humans, India should send less risky, cheaper AI-powered robots to space
Isro tested the Crew Escape System (CES) for Gaganyaan, marking one more success for the organisation. After the historic Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 missions, this is one more feather in Isro’s cap. A few days before the CES test, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed Isro to aim for setting up an Indian space station by 2035, and seek to land the first Indian on the Moon by 2040.
He also asked scientists to work on Venus and Mars missions.
Last week’s CES test was intended to check out the emergency system for evacuation of the gaganauts. The Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) involved the launch of a made-forpurpose rocket and the separation of CES from the rocket at an altitude of about 17 km. The crew module then detaches from CES and makes its final descent into the sea, from where the gaganauts would be picked up by anaval boat.
Isro reported success of all elements, validating its design, technology and procedures. The mechanism would be set in motion if the mission is aborted soon after launch due to any observed or anticipated glitch.
With all the testing being done and planned, any such emergency is unlikely. Yet, it is indicative of the special requirements human space flight (HSF) demands, distinct from those needed for an unmanned launch.
The latter can make do with a success probability of 99% or even less.
However, when the payload on board is one or more humans, the reliability required is at least one magnitude more. Apart from this, HSF means a crew module that takes care of lifesupport requirements, including sanitation and waste disposal. This adds hugely to the complexity, testing, time schedule and cost of the mission.
The first HSF was, of course, that of Yuri Gagarin in 1961, aboard
