Question: From which of the following launch facilities ISRO successfully carried out the flight testing crew escape system in July, 2018?
(a)Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram (Thumba), Kerala
(b)Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Sriharikota), Andhra Pradesh
(c)Abdul Kalam Island, Balasore, Odisha
(d)Kennedy Space Center,Florida
Ans: (b)
Related Facts:-
- On July 5, 2018; in a major technology demonstration ISRO successfully carried out the flight testing crew escape system.
- The Crew Escape System along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonnes launched from its pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
- The test completed in 259 seconds, the crew module with the help of its parachutes landed back safely.
- It was a first in the series of tests to qualify a Crew escape system for human spaceflight.
- The Crew Escape System is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of launch failure.
Note:
- Only three countries -USA, Russia and China have human space flight programmes.
- The only Indian citizen to ever travel to space was fighter pilot Rakesh Sharma who flew aboard Soyuz T-11, a spacecraft of the former USSR in 1984.