Parachute deployment tested for Gaganyaan mission

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Isro has successfully conducted a series of tests on drogue parachutes, which would play a pivotal role in stabilising the crew module and reducing its velocity to a safe level during re-entry in the planned Gaganyaan human space flight mission. 

The Gaganyaan mission hopes to transport astronauts to Space and back. Drogue parachutes are deployed to decrease speed and stabilise rapidly moving objects.

Isro's Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre successfully conducted a series of Drogue Parachute Deployment Tests at the Rail Track Rocket Sled facility of the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory in Chandigarh during August 8-10, the national space agency said in a statement here on Friday.

The tests were conducted in collaboration with Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment.

The drogue parachutes, packed within pyro-based devices known as mortars, are cleverly designed to eject the parachutes into the air upon command.

These conical ribbon-type parachutes, boasting a diameter of 5.8 metres, employ a single-stage reefing mechanism, ingeniously minimising canopy area and mitigating opening shock, ensuring a smooth and controlled descent, the Isro explained.