Isro to Study Data in Crew Module's Black Box

Indian space scientists will study the data recorded by around 200 sensors in the dummy crew module that reached the Kamarajar Port near Chennai on Sunday, said a senior official of the space agency.

"The crew module has around 200 sensors to record various aspects of the flight. Our team at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvanthapuram will study the data," S.Somanath, project director, GSLV-Mark III told IANS.

He said the crew module has a static recorder that records the various aspects - thermal, acoustics, velocity, electronics performance and others - that the module experienced in its descent.

India on December 18 moved forward in its rocket technology with the successful flight testing of its heaviest next-generation rocket - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mark III) - and the crew module in a 20.43 minute mission.

The crew module that splashed in Bay of Bengal on December 18 was recovered by Indian Coast Guard ship Samudra Paheredar and was brought to Kamarajar Port near Chennai on Sunday.

"The module will be transported to Sriharikota (where the rocket port is located in Andhra Pradesh). At Sriharikota the module's on-board fuel tanks would be cleaned and then sent to VSSC where the data would be studied," Somanath said.

According to him, as per the initial inspection made by a team of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) officials, everything relating to the crew module seems to be normal.

Though it is called as a crew module, the 3.7-tonne module does not have a door/latch as it involves a complex technology.

The main objective was to study the re-entry characteristics of the crew module - called Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment and its aero braking and validation of its end-to-end parachute system.

According to Kamarajar Port's Facebook page, Isro chairman K.Radhakrishnan visited the port to receive the crew module.