Monday, January 22, 2007 (Thiruvananthapuram):
India just got one step closer to a manned space mission.ISRO's scientists
brought an artificial satellite back to earth on Monday morning.
This was the first attempt to see if orbiting objects can be safely brought back.
It's a complex technology, mastered only by America, China and Russia, and now India
However, ISRO is still to declare it a complete success. This depends on two other tests, whether it was strong enough and whether it could handle zero gravity. As planned, the capsule landed 140 km east off the coast of Sriharikota.
On splashdown a giant balloon kept it afloat, while a green dye and a homing beacon helped Coast Guard ships and scientists from ISRO locate and recover the capsule.
It has now been brought ashore near Chennai.
The black spindle shaped space capsule was launched 12 days ago. This was India's maiden attempt to see if it could make orbiting objects that can be safely brought back to earth.
Sea landing The space capsule was orbiting the earth at a height of 625 km. When it re-entered the earth's atmosphere it was traveling at over 28,000 km per hour. But finally when it splashed down it had slowed to about 40 km per hour.
The capsule was re-oriented and four tiny rockets on it helped it de-boost or flip over. On re-entry at 9.37 AM the capsule survived very high temperatures. Three parachutes slowed down the capsule five km above sea level.
Scientists from ISRO will now examine it to see how the capsule performed and most importantly if the ceramic tiles - produced locally - served their purpose.
This brings India a step closer to sending a manned space mission. A similar capsule, but six times heavier, will hopefully take two Indian astronauts in space eight years after the government gives approval.