| As a high school student in Thiruvananthapuram in the early 1960s, G. Madhavan Nair was a member of the local aero-modelling club and had built a remotely piloted aircraft-a novelty in those days. In 1967, he joined the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a trainee "to do something new". He went on to do plenty of new things, including being part of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's core team for building India's first satellite launch vehicle, the slv3. When it was successfully launched in 1980, India was among a handful of nations to have such a capability. Now, 40 years later, as ISRO's chairman, Nair is in charge of ushering in a whole new era in India's space programme. Having mastered the complex technology for building giant rocket launchers, apart from state-of-the-art communications and remote sensing satellites, ISRO had met most of the targets laid out in the first phase of its programme with, well, flying colours. Nair was then tasked to take the organisation to the very edge of technology: space exploration, both unmanned and manned. ISRO was already building a lunar orbiter it plans to launch in 2008, making it India's first mission to the Moon. Now it was keen to demonstrate that it had the capability to carry out a manned mission. Previously, only three other nations had gone the full distance: the US, Russia and, most recently, China, which in 2003 sent up its first taikonaut.  | | LEFT FUMING | | | "Indian scientists have set a standard that takes a backseat to no one."
MICHAEL GRIFFIN
NASA chief | | "It has opened a whole new chapter in India's space programme."
DR A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM
President of India | | "Our space programme has considerably enhanced brand India's image."
N.R. NARAYANA MURTHY
Infosys chairman | "Those nations that choose not to participate in exploration will be left behind."
BUZZ ALDRIN
Astronaut, Apollo 11 | |
That's why, what should have normally been a routine launch of its workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), on January 10, instead attracted avid interest worldwide. For, ensconced in the centre of the rocket's bulbous head, was a conical-shaped space-craft, the sre-1-or the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment-1, the first Indian space object soon to be brought successfully back to Earth. Why was that so difficult? It meant controlling a spacecraft that's tearing down at a speed 28 times that of a commercial jet and withstanding tremendously high temperatures of over 1,500 degrees Centigrade as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. It also entailed maintaining room temperature inside the spacecraft comfortable enough for an astronaut. To achieve that, specially designed ceramic tiles had to be built and laid on the outer shell of the spacecraft. It took ISRO almost two years to develop these tiles as no nation is willing to sell such cutting-edge technology. Scientists also had to ensure the spacecraft landed at the precise zone so that they didn't have to scan the ocean to find it. On the morning of January 22, a good 12 days after sre-1 had circled the Earth at an average height of 400 km, ISRO made preparations for its re-entry. Nair and his team of scientists positioned themselves at the control centre at Sriharikota, ISRO's launch pad. There was nothing really for the scientists to do but watch a blip on a giant television screen as the onboard computers started the de-boost operations to slow the capsule and send it into a planned free-fall. Then, soon after it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, bright orange parachutes fluttered out and cut its speed from 29,000 kmph to a mere 43 kmph, as it splashed down into the Bay of Bengal. A Coast Guard ship which was on standby sent a dinghy of sailors to tow the vehicle back to the shore near Ennore. Nair drove to Ennore to see for himself whether the capsule was in good condition and its insides were not fried. Among the first to congratulate him was Kalam, who said: "What you and your team have achieved gave me the same thrill as seeing the slv3 going up. You have opened a whole new chapter in Indian space-of bringing down space objects." Soon after, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Nair to say, "The country is overjoyed. ISRO has done India proud." Later, Nair told INDIA TODAY: "This is a small but significant step that will eventually lead us to launching, among other things, a manned mission to space, apart from cost-effective reusable launch vehicles" (see interview). While congratulatory messages poured in from representatives of the world's leading space agencies, news of China's spectacular star wars strike hogged the headlines. In a surprise and daring move, China launched a ballistic missile to strike down one of its satellites in space-an anti-satellite capability that till then only the US and Russia possessed. While China played coy, there was consternation among others because it now gave Beijing the ability to disrupt satellite communications-the key technology for all future wars. Nair says India, too, has the capability of striking down satellites but has deliberately not gone down that path as it is a signatory to the UN resolution for peaceful use of outer space. Nair's claim could have many takers. For, in recent years ISRO has more than demonstrated that it is up there with the big boys of space. For an organisation that began its work using the beaches of Thiruvananthapuram as a launch pad and an abandoned church as its office, ISRO has over the years metamorphosed into a pulsating institution that has proven its capability in a whole range of complex space technology. | | WHAT IT WILL TAKE FOR INDIA TO GO FOR A MANNED MISSION IN SPACE | | | MISSION OBJECTIVES
To develop a fully autonomous, manned space vehicle to carry a crew of two to a 400-km orbit. The mission duration is expected to be seven days. LAUNCH VEHICLE
For launching it, GSLV Mk II can be used with minimal changes. There would be a crew module and a service module with an emergency abort system. CREW TRAINING
Facilities would have to be set up for training astronauts using simulators that mimic zero gravity conditions and also high-speed vibrations that they would experience. NEW TECHNOLOGIES
ISRO would have to master the space suit and crew seat technologies, thermal protections systems, crew health monitoring systems, crew module design and environment, and life support systems. THE HONOURS LIST FOR INDIA
RAKESH SHARMA
First Indian astronaut to spend eight days in space in 1984 aboard the Salyut 7 KALPANA CHAWLA
US citizen who went up twice but died in 2003 when Columbia crashed SUNITA WILLIAMS
Of Indian origin, she will be spending six months in the orbiting ISS "India should participate in space travel. I hope a lot of people follow in my footsteps." Rs 10,000 cr
The cost of a manned space flight with a two-crew cabin in low Earth orbit 2017
If immediate clearance is given, it would take ISRO around 10 years to launch a manned mission in space
| | Other space powers acknowledge ISRO's steady rise up the space echelon. Michael Griffin, administrator of the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was highly appreciative of ISRO's capability while touring its complexes in India recently. At $16 billion (Rs 70,735 crore), NASA's annual budget is 18 times that of ISRO, but Griffin told INDIA TODAY: "Everything that I have seen in Indian space facilities is absolutely first rate. The US has the largest space programme in the world, but what we do is not being done better than what I see here. We just have more of it because we are spending more money. But all of the work that I have seen is just first-class professional. People here set a very high standard. The quality of the people, the technical knowledge, the qualification-they set a standard which I would say takes a backseat to no one." Almost four decades after its formation, ISRO has more than justified its existence. It now indigenously builds satellites almost 60 per cent cheaper than what India can buy from other nations. Nair estimates that if India had to purchase the 16 communication satellites that it has built from foreign vendors at $300 million ((Rs 1,325 crore) apiece, it would have cost the country's exchequer $4.8 billion (Rs 21,200 crore). That is twice the total budget of ISRO since its inception. Dr K.N. Shankara, director of ISRO's Satellite Centre in Bangalore, says that even though the centre is doubling the 174 transponders it has in space in the next two years it is still booked to capacity. The main grouse of TV channel owners is that ISRO insists on being the nodal agency for purchase of foreign transponders. But ISRO maintains it sells transponders at around $1 million (Rs 4 crore) a year to private Indian users-almost half the cost at which it is available abroad, thereby acting as an automatic price regulator. | | In the League of Nations | | | India has entered a select group of countries with indigenous space programmes. Here is where they stack up. USA
The world's largest space agency NASA has launched over 100 manned missions and several probes since its inception in 1958. In 2006, it announced the Moon-to-Mars programme, under which it will re-send astronauts to the Moon by 2017 and develop permanent Moon bases by 2020. The space shuttle programme, which began in 1981, will end in 2010. The agency, with an annual budget of $16 billion (Rs 70,735 crore), will use rockets for manned missions. It plans to launch a Mars lander to study the planet. RUSSIA
The Russian Federal Space Agency inherited the Soviet Union's formidable space know-how which began with the Sputnik launch 50 years ago. The agency works on a modest $900 million (Rs 4,000 crore) budget and is one of the partners in the orbiting International Space Station (ISS). It is the only one to offer rides to the value of $20 million (Rs 90 crore) to space tourists. The agency is now working on the Kliper, a small reusable space launch vehicle, for induction by 2012. EUROPE
Launched in 1975 as an inter-governmental conglomerate of 15 European nations, the European Space Agency (ESA) is the market leader in commercial space launches. It built and operated the Hubble Space Telescope with NASA. The agency has brought in Italian-built Vega launchers and Russia's Soyuz rockets for manned missions. The ESA has an annual budget of €2.9 billion (Rs 16,646 crore) and has planned its own manned spaceflight mission and a Manned European Mars mission. CHINA
In 2003, China became the third nation to send man into space, and sent up another 'taikonaut' in 2005. The space programme still controlled by the military has an estimated budget of over $1 billion (Rs 4,500 crore). The country plans to launch a 3-phase Moon mission this year. Deep space exploration will begin in five years' time, culminating in a manned Mars mission between 2040 and 2060. Its controversial January 11 shooting down of its own satellite was the first since the US-Soviet tests during the Cold War. INDIA
ISRO's growth curve began with the SLV3, which hefted the 35-kg Rohini satellite into orbit in 1980 and continues with the GSLV Mk III launcher capable of sending up a four-tonne satellite. It has ambitious goals of putting the Chandrayaan in orbit around the Moon by next year. The IRS system is the world's largest constellation of remote sensing satellites and ISRO offers the cheapest commercial access to space, at roughly $20,000 (Rs 9 lakh) per kg. JAPAN
The fourth country to venture into space, Japan is the third to send a spacecraft into geostationary orbit. The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) spends ¥180.1 billion (Rs 6,580 crore) annually, the third largest in the world, on research, development and launch of satellites into orbit as well as a future manned space mission. JAXA's Advanced Land Observing Satellite launched last year is part of its extensive use of space for predicting climate disasters. This year, it will launch its first large lunar explorer, Selene.
| | In remote sensing technology, ISRO has been ahead of user demands. It now has the capability of not only mapping the country's natural resources but in an area that is little spoken about, its latest range of satellites has cameras with resolutions high enough for military use. ISRO, however, maintains that any technology it makes is intended for peaceful use. Meanwhile, its communication satellites have also helped usher in things such as telemedicine and education TV, helping millions of Indians in rural areas gain access to the best of professional advice. In Ahmedabad, director of India's Space Application Centre R.R. Navalgund says: "We are constantly ensuring that the technology we build has a direct impact on people's lives, especially in rural India." In launchers, it's the PSLV, now in its 10th launch, that has proven its ability to reliably punch satellites into lower Earth orbits. At Rs 80 crore, it is competitive enough in the world market for other countries to buy space on. The recent PSLV launch, which carried the sre-1, also had two other experimental satellites built by Argentina and Indonesia. The Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), despite a failed launch in October last year, the first in four such launches, has the capability of putting a communication satellite of the INSAT series weighing two-and-a-half tonne (the weight of one Toyota Innova) into orbit, 36,000 km into space. It also has the capability of powering future Indian manned missions to the Moon. In Thiruvananthapuram, Dr B.N. Suresh, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, says: "Our success rate of PSLV and GSLV is around 87 per cent, which compares well with world standards." | INTERVIEW | G. MADHAVAN NAIR
"No computer can replace man" | | | ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair elaborates on India's present achievements and future space programmes in an interview to Managing Editor Raj Chengappa. Excerpts: Q. What is the significance of the Space capsule Recovery Experiment, the SRE 1? A. Earlier, we had successfully put spacecraft into orbits. It is equally important to get them back from the orbit, and also more complex considering that the satellite is moving at a speed of 29,000 km per hour and there is tremendous heat generated by re-entry that needs to be taken care of. At one stroke, we were able to decipher the entire technology of breaking the orbit, re-entry, precise landing in the ocean and, of course, subsequent retrieval. This can be a small step towards a man-mission for the future. The SRE weighed 500 kg but a manned capsule for the future will weigh about three tonnes. Scaling up is possible. But to make it habitable, we have to go a long way to develop the technology. Aspects like life-support system, shielding against radiation, conditions for the astronaut to live within the capsule for at least a week- all that will need lots more work. Q. Why have a man-mission when robotics can be made to do the same? A. Undoubtedly, many exploration functions can be carried out by robotics and instruments. But for an intelligent experiment to be conducted, I don't think any computer can replace a human being. Suppose, when exploring solar objects, you observe an interesting phenomenon you would like to dwell on. But a robot-controlled device may have a time-lag involved and you may miss the phenomena. So that's the first advantage. It may be an expensive method, still I am sure when trying to find out secrets of the universe, the scientists would like to handle the instruments themselves. Q. That can't be the only reason. A. Again, let us look at 30 or 40 years from now. Colonisation of the moon is going to be the most important topic as far as human beings are concerned. We now have a station in Antarctica. When other countries like the US and China establish their base on the moon, I don't think India can lag behind. So this man-mission will be a stepping stone to that. As a technologist, I feel this is going to put the entire technology base of the country not just in space but also in related areas like space medicine, simulators, environment control and other spin-off technologies. It is going to be a landmark. So whatever money we spend will majorly be in man presence, but the host of infrastructure that is created-laboratory for advanced research, the products of this research-has great potential. The money spent will more than justify itself through technology spinoffs and technology leapfrogging. Q. Wouldn't that also enable us to move towards reusable boosters in satellite launches? A. First, we want to stabilise the current launcher, GSLV. The GSLV Mark III is also being developed and will be operational by 2010. But next generational launch vehicle calls for recoverable and reusable systems which can considerably bring down the launch cost. Today, it costs about $15,000 (Rs 6.5 lakh) to $20,000 (Rs 8.5 lakh) a kg to access space. If we can bring it down to less than $5,000 (Rs 2 lakh) a kg, it will be a great advantage for entering the commercial market. We aim to have recoverable and reusable system by 2020. Q. Vikram Sarabhai had laid the vision of launchers and communication satellites. Are we now expanding his vision to include other areas of exploration? A. Yes, we are expanding on his vision. But in his times, the 1960s, we had a resource crunch and I think we were modest. Also we were trying to utilise our resources in the most effective manner. Today, we have fulfilled almost all the targets that Sarabhai had set. This is the second phase of Sarabhai's vision. He always believed that we should be second to none. Low-cost success in space is one of our thrust areas. Then again, we don't want to lag behind others in the scientific exploration of outer space. Q. Where do we stand today in terms of space technology in comparison to the US, China and Russia? A. Apart from man-mission, we are at par with the other developed nations. Be it building satellites, instruments, transponders, launch vehicle systems-we have all these technologies in place. We perhaps have the advantage of starting late and incorporating the latest in the field so that brings in a certain amount of cost-effectiveness and better ability in operations.
| | There is plenty left for ISRO to do. In launchers, it still has to master cryogenic rocketry which uses super-cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen as fuel. Such rockets give more bang for the buck, which in space technology means more thrust for every kg of fuel onboard. The sre-1 would also give it the capability of developing reusable launchers. At present, it costs as much as $15,000 (Rs 6.5 lakh) to launch a kg of equipment into space mainly because the primary boosters fall into the Bay of Bengal and cannot be recovered. ISRO now plans reusable boosters that Nair says would bring down the cost to $5,000 (Rs 2 lakh) a kg, making such launches eminently competitive. In satellites, with the lower spectrum crammed, ISRO needs to build more powerful transponders that could send high-quality digital signals in the Ka band. It plans to build remote sensing satellites for imagery of less than a foot. This would enable high spectral imagery for, among other things, farming. It also needs to build satellites with microwave imaging capability that would enable them to see through dense clouds. ISRO has already marketed both its imagery and launch capability and last year earned Rs 400 crore by exporting its technology. But it can still do a lot more to sell its wares. Its next odyssey, though, is going to be the space exploration programme. With its lunar orbiter Chandrayaan costing Rs 390 crore for a launch-a fraction of ISRO's total budget-the organisation has made a modest beginning. Adding prestige to its launch is an agreement signed with NASA to send up two of the latter's instruments on-board the Chandrayaan. The real test would be when its plan for a manned mission firms up. In November last year, over a 100 scientists met in Bangalore to debate over whether India should be doing it at all. An overwhelming majority voted for going ahead with it. The cost of the programme is expected to be Rs 10,000 crore (not very expensive, you would say, given that India's civil aviation sector buys a Boeing jumbo-jet for around Rs 800 crore)-and the time-frame for the first Indian in space is 10 years. ISRO still has to master plenty of technologies to send a man into space (see box). Nair's rationale is that India can ill-afford to lag behind in a race that every major space power is engaged in. NASA has announced its return to manned space exploration in a big way and now talks of not just returning to the Moon but also sending a man to Mars and beyond. It is even willing to cut back on science exploration for its manned mission, which Griffin feels has been neglected for too long to America's detriment. But why not go for robotics and machines instead of a human being? Griffin's answer: "The human is the best general purpose machine. If you have a specific task that you want to accomplish, then I would argue you could get a machine to do it. But if you have a general array of tasks to be performed, especially ones that include investigation, analysis and assessment, machines can help but you have to have humans." Space is now being looked upon as a major investment of the future-something akin to having a base in Antarctica. It's considered the new frontier for commercial exploitation and nations that develop the technology to explore it would have a major say. Also, as in the past, having a space programme enhances the country's brand image. Griffin says, "Space flight is the hardest thing that nations do." That's because space is unforgiving and has zero-tolerance for goof-ups. What space research gives a nation is a vast array of technologies, and that helps the country across the board. It also puts it in the first rank of nations. At Davos, Infosys Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy, who is attending the World Economic Forum, said that the sre-1 launch had "considerably enhanced brand India's image". Murthy said the respect shown by the participants was evident and added: "It was looked on as a sign of the high level of maturity of India's space programme." In Washington, Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step on the Moon after Neil Armstrong in the historic Apollo 11 mission, told INDIA TODAY: "Those nations who choose not to participate are going to be left behind in the technologies that go into exploring space. It's very important for India to be in it because it would be a great balancing force in Asia." About his famous Moon walk, Aldrin recalls that the Sun looked different and when he saw his shadow, there was a strange bright light around it because of the way light gets diffused on the Moon's surface. The halo of their memorable walk on an alien surface is etched in human memory. For India, failure to get into space exploration is now no more an option.
Index |
