GSLV Mk-III: ISRO successfully test flies its heaviest rocket
Posted on: 18/Dec/2014 3:36:39 PM
ISRO today successfully tested the atmospheric re-entry of a crew module after its heaviest launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III blasted off from here.
This is the first step in the ambitious project towards realising India`s ambition to send humans into space.
Exactly 5.4 minutes after lift-off at 9.30 AM from the Second Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, the module separated from the rocket at an altitude of 126 km and re-entered Earth`s atmosphere (about 80 km from sea level).
It descended in a ballistic mode and splashed down into the Bay of Bengal, some 180 km from Indira Point, the southern tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
This experimental mission has helped ISRO with two primary lessons -- to study the flight validation of the complex atmospheric flight regime of LVM3 vehicle and study the re-entry characteristics of CARE crew module.
The experiment also witnessed the largest parachute in action ever made in the country.
