HYDERABAD: A special titanium alloy has been developed by Hyderabad-based Midhani, a defence PSU, which will play a crucial role in ensuring safety of Gaganyaan crew. Gaganyaan, India’s human space flight mission, could propel India to the centre of human space exploration.
‘Crew escape systems’ is one of the new technologies required for ISRO’s Gaganyaanmanned space mission and the crew will operate from a honeycomb-like structure which will be their home in the spacecraft. In simple words, the material to build this ‘home’ is ready and has been supplied to ISRO by Midhani.
Titanium-31 was developed at Midhani particularly to meet this need. The alloy will make it possible for the astronauts to escape to safety in any eventuality. “The material would otherwise have to be imported, but we developed it here. We have tested it to perfection and made a supply to ISRO,” Sanjay Kumar Jha, chairman and managing director of Midhani, told TOI.
Unmanned missions will be taken up in 2022, says Sivan
It may be mentioned here that the Gaganyaan programme envisages a human spaceflight to low earth orbit. The crew will stay in the spacecraft for a period of time before their return to the earth is facilitated. But just how many days they will be there has not yet been decided. Before this main event, two unmanned events were planned, one of which was supposed to take place by December 2021.
However, this has been put off due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected the work in various agencies associated with the project.
ISRO chairman and secretary of department of space K Sivan announced that the unmanned missions would now be taken up in 2022. ISRO has so far not revealed the names of the crew who have been selected for the space mission from the IAF and are undergoing training in Russia.
The titanium alloy material that is used for making a platform for the crew to operate in the spacecraft has been thoroughly tested.
“The material has passed every test. Out of the 24 slabs that are required to be provided to ISRO for making the platform, 12 have already been supplied. The remaining will be supplied soon,” Sanjay Kumar said.
Each of the slabs is a two metre square and has the required thickness. “Gaganyaan is an ambitious project of ISRO. Certain materials, which are of very high quality with different shapes and sizes, are required. The most important of these is the titanium alloy,” Kumar added.
