Space Capsule Recovery Experiment
Encyclopedia
The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SCRE or more commonly SRE or SRE-1) is an Indian experimental spacecraft
which was launched at 03:53 GMT on January 10, 2007 from Sriharikota
by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The launch was conducted using the PSLV C7 rocket, along with three other satellites. It remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal
at 04:16 GMT on January 22.
, pyro
devices, avionics
packages of triggering unit and sequencer, telemetry
and tracking system and sensors for measurement of system performance parameters are placed inside the SRE-1 capsule. Parachutes for SRE capsule were provided by ADRDE
.
To withstand the heat of re-entry, the cone-shaped SRE-1 has a heat shield composed of silica tiles over much of the surface, and an ablative nose cap of carbon-phenolic composite. ISRO is also working on technology to manufacture carbon-carbon composite
heat shields, which, along with the silica tiles tested with the SRE-1, could find use in future reusable spacecraft such as ISRO's planned Reusable Launch Vehicle.
SRE-1 was traveling around the earth in a circular polar orbit at an altitude of 637 kilometers. In preparation for its reentry, SRE-1 was put into an elliptical orbit with a perigee
of 485 kilometers and an apogee of 639 kilometers by issuing commands from the spacecraft control centre of ISTRAC
at Bangalore
on January 19, 2007. The critical de-boost operations were executed from SCC, Bangalore
supported by a network of ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow
, Sriharikota
, Mauritius
, Biak
in Indonesia
, Saskatoon
in Canada, Svalbard
in Norway besides shipborne and airborne terminals.
On January 22, 2007, the re-orientation of SRE-1 capsule for de-boost operations commenced at 08:42 am IST
. The de-boost started at 09:00 am with the firing of on-board rocket motors and the operations were completed at 09:10 am. At 09:17 am, SRE-1 capsule was reoriented for its re-entry into the dense atmosphere. The capsule made its re-entry at 09:37 am at an altitude of 100 kilometers with a velocity of 8 km/s (ca. 29,000 km/h). During its reentry, the capsule was protected from the intense heat by carbon phenolic ablative material and silica tiles on its outer surface.
By the time SRE-1 descended to an altitude of 5 km, aerodynamic braking
had considerably reduced its velocity to 101 m/s (364 km/h). Pilot and drogue parachute
deployments helped in further reducing its velocity to 47 m/s (169 km/h).
was deployed at about 2 km altitude. SRE-1 splashed down in the Bay of Bengal
with a velocity of 12 m/s (43 km/h) at 09:46 am IST (04:16 am GMT). The flotation system, which was immediately triggered, kept the capsule afloat. Recovery operations were supported and carried out by the Indian Coast Guard
and Indian Navy
using ships, aircraft and helicopters.
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
which was launched at 03:53 GMT on January 10, 2007 from Sriharikota
Sriharikota
Sriharikota is a barrier island off the coast of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It houses India's only satellite launch centre in the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and is used by the Indian Space Research Organisation to launch satellites using multi-stage rockets such as the Polar...
by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The launch was conducted using the PSLV C7 rocket, along with three other satellites. It remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
at 04:16 GMT on January 22.
Overview
SRE-1 was designed to demonstrate the capability to recover an orbiting space capsule, and the technology of an orbiting platform for performing experiments in microgravity conditions. It was also intended to test reusable Thermal Protection System, navigation, guidance and control, hypersonic aero-thermodynamics, management of communication blackout, deceleration and flotation system and recovery operations.Design
SRE-1 is a 555 kg capsule. It comprises aero-thermo structure, internal structure, Mission Management Unit, Altitude sensors and Inertial measurement unit, S-band transponder with unique belt array antenna embedded to ATS, power and electronics packages to support deceleration and flotation system. It also houses two microgravity payloads. It has a sphere-cone-flare configuration with a spherical nose of about 0.5 m radius, base diameter of 2 m and 1.6 m height. The parachuteParachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
, pyro
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
devices, avionics
Avionics
Avionics are electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft.Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles...
packages of triggering unit and sequencer, telemetry
Telemetry
Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...
and tracking system and sensors for measurement of system performance parameters are placed inside the SRE-1 capsule. Parachutes for SRE capsule were provided by ADRDE
Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment
The Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation . Located in Agra, its primary function is research and development of Aerostats and delivery systems. It was involved in the design and development of major subsystems of...
.
To withstand the heat of re-entry, the cone-shaped SRE-1 has a heat shield composed of silica tiles over much of the surface, and an ablative nose cap of carbon-phenolic composite. ISRO is also working on technology to manufacture carbon-carbon composite
Reinforced carbon-carbon
Carbon fibre-reinforced carbon is a composite material consisting of carbon fibre reinforcement in a matrix of graphite. It was developed for the nose cones of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and is most widely known as the material for the nose cone and wing leading edges of the Space Shuttle...
heat shields, which, along with the silica tiles tested with the SRE-1, could find use in future reusable spacecraft such as ISRO's planned Reusable Launch Vehicle.
Re-entry
Perigee
Perigee is the point at which an object makes its closest approach to the Earth.. Often the term is used in a broader sense to define the point in an orbit where the orbiting body is closest to the body it orbits. The opposite is the apogee, the farthest or highest point.The Greek prefix "peri"...
of 485 kilometers and an apogee of 639 kilometers by issuing commands from the spacecraft control centre of ISTRAC
Indian Space Research Organisation Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network
The Indian Space Research Organization , over the years, established a comprehensive network of ground stations to provide Telemetry, Tracking and Command support to satellite and launch vehicle missions...
at Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
on January 19, 2007. The critical de-boost operations were executed from SCC, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
supported by a network of ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, Sriharikota
Sriharikota
Sriharikota is a barrier island off the coast of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It houses India's only satellite launch centre in the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and is used by the Indian Space Research Organisation to launch satellites using multi-stage rockets such as the Polar...
, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Biak
Biak
Biak features a tropical rainforest climate with nearly identical temperatures throughout the course of the year. The average annual temperature in the city is 27 degrees celsius, which is also generally the average temperature of each day in Biak...
in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
in Canada, Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
in Norway besides shipborne and airborne terminals.
On January 22, 2007, the re-orientation of SRE-1 capsule for de-boost operations commenced at 08:42 am IST
Indian Standard Time
Indian Standard Time is the time observed throughout India and Sri Lanka, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments, although DST was used briefly during the Sino–Indian War of 1962 and the Indo–Pakistani Wars of 1965 and 1971...
. The de-boost started at 09:00 am with the firing of on-board rocket motors and the operations were completed at 09:10 am. At 09:17 am, SRE-1 capsule was reoriented for its re-entry into the dense atmosphere. The capsule made its re-entry at 09:37 am at an altitude of 100 kilometers with a velocity of 8 km/s (ca. 29,000 km/h). During its reentry, the capsule was protected from the intense heat by carbon phenolic ablative material and silica tiles on its outer surface.
By the time SRE-1 descended to an altitude of 5 km, aerodynamic braking
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
had considerably reduced its velocity to 101 m/s (364 km/h). Pilot and drogue parachute
Drogue parachute
A drogue parachute is a parachute designed to be deployed from a rapidly moving object in order to slow the object, or to provide control and stability, or as a pilot parachute to deploy a larger parachute...
deployments helped in further reducing its velocity to 47 m/s (169 km/h).
Splashdown and recovery
The main parachuteParachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
was deployed at about 2 km altitude. SRE-1 splashed down in the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
with a velocity of 12 m/s (43 km/h) at 09:46 am IST (04:16 am GMT). The flotation system, which was immediately triggered, kept the capsule afloat. Recovery operations were supported and carried out by the Indian Coast Guard
Indian Coast Guard
The Indian Coast Guard is a branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Its mission is the protection of India's maritime interests and maritime law enforcement with jurisdiction over both territorial and international waters....
and Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
using ships, aircraft and helicopters.
Experiments
During its stay in orbit, the following two experiments on board SRE-1 were successfully conducted under microgravity conditions.- One of the experiments studied metal melting and crystallization under microgravity conditions. This experiment, jointly designed by the Indian Institute of ScienceIndian Institute of ScienceIndian Institute of Science is a research institution of higher learning located in Bangalore, India. It was established in 1909.-History:After a chance meeting between Jamsetji N...
, BangaloreBangaloreBengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
and Vikram Sarabhai Space CentreVikram Sarabhai Space CentreThe Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation , focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme...
, ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
, was performed in an isothermal heating furnace. - The second experiment, jointly designed by National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur and ISRO Satellite Centre BangaloreBangaloreBengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, studied the synthesis of nano-crystals under microgravity conditions. This was an experiment in designing biomaterials that better replicate natural biological products. The experimental results have yet to be analyzed.
See also
- SRE-2Space Capsule Recovery Experiment IIThe Space Capsule Recovery Experiment II is an Indian re-entry demonstration experiment designed by the Indian Space Research Organization. It is follow-on mission of SRE-1 which was successfully completed in January 2007. It will test some of the critical technologies for the Indian human...
- List of Indian satellites