Indian Space Program Discussion

chilarai · Post by **chilarai** » 20 Apr 2011 10:02

congratulations ISRO ! onwards to next launch !

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 20 Apr 2011 10:02

Great job,

Now make the GSLV work like the PSLV.

Sid · Post by **Sid** » 20 Apr 2011 10:05

lol... full Babu giri in progress. Mantri ji jumped in pushing all scientists behind for speech session.

Another gift by ISRO to Indian people.

abhijitm · Post by **abhijitm** » 20 Apr 2011 10:09

congrats isro

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 20 Apr 2011 10:10

Congrats ISRO !

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 20 Apr 2011 10:11

Target slot reached

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Apr 2011 10:12

Sid wrote:lol... full Babu giri in progress. Mantri ji jumped in pushing all scientists behind for speech session.

And, Mantri ji promptly thanked the UPA Chairperson for the success.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Apr 2011 10:13

congrats for a job well done ! you have our gratitude.

now, on to the GSLV.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 20 Apr 2011 10:14

PSLV-C16 launches Resourcesat-2 and aux satellites

arunsrinivasan · Post by **arunsrinivasan** » 20 Apr 2011 10:16

Re UPA Chairperson ....

Congrats ISRO, I watched a launch on TV after a long time ... & happy to know it was successful.

juvva · Post by **juvva** » 20 Apr 2011 10:16

s/c status update as per one of the speakers(couldn't catch his name): tracking station acquired the s/c, solar panels deployed and power status good,,,,the other two sats also good....

chilarai · Post by **chilarai** » 20 Apr 2011 10:20

chackojoseph wrote:PSLV-C16 launches Resourcesat-2 and aux satellites

from the link

One of the key point of the launch was that the younger generation scientists were at the helm of the launch and the seniors were sitting at the back.

this is encouraging news.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 20 Apr 2011 10:21

This is passing the baton to the next gen

dipak · Post by **dipak** » 20 Apr 2011 10:27

Yes ..the mission director was quite young for leading such an important project.
Its heartening to see the future of space exploration is bright.

And, I am not sure if UPA Chairperson is even aware that today there is such a launch due and she is being congratulated!

vina · Post by **vina** » 20 Apr 2011 10:31

SSridhar wrote:
Sid wrote:lol... full Babu giri in progress. Mantri ji jumped in pushing all scientists behind for speech session.
And, Mantri ji promptly thanked the UPA Chairperson for the success.

WTF ? Who is this Mantri Joker? Who let him into that launch complex at all.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 20 Apr 2011 10:32

dipak wrote:
And, I am not sure if UPA Chairperson is even aware that today there is such a launch due and she is being congratulated!

Under the corruption and sagging polls of the ruling elites
Just like World Cup win was given credit the successful launch is also given the credit to the shaky elites

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 20 Apr 2011 11:49

Congrats ISRO!
For those who didn't see the launch,

PSLV C-17 is being integrated with GSAT-12
PSLV C-18 & C-19 are awaiting parts for integration.
C-18 will Launch Megha Tropiques.
ISRO has a launch every 2-3 months.

The director of the liquid propulsion, also heads the team working on the CUS. He was very upbeat and confident that we will soon have two fully operational launchers in the form of the PSLV and the GSLV.

The mantri in question was one Mr Natarajan, minister of state in the PMO.
After effusively praising the PM, he started praising the UPA chairperson.

ISRO has launched 19 indigenous and 22 foreign satellites.
Resourcesat has 3 cameras with resolutions of 5.2m to 50+m in different spectra, aimed at studying forests, snow cover, etc. The director of the team who designed the cameras also spoke.

Final word: Great Team Spirit visible in ISRO, the new generation is being groomed to take over.

Godspeed ISRO!

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 20 Apr 2011 12:06

http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2B ... 74651.html

Singapore's first micro-satellite, X-SAT, was launched into space today at 12.42 pm from a space centre in Andhra Pradesh, India.

It was lifted off onboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C16 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The X-SAT was developed and built by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) - in collaboration with DSO National Laboratories.

According to a statement released by NTU, the micro-satellite was one of the two "piggyback" mission satellites loaded on the PSLV-C16 rocket.

The PSLV-C16 successfully inserted the X-SAT into its planned orbit around the Earth.

"We are delighted with the successful launch of Singapore's first experimental micro-satellite into space. This represents a huge leap for our local research and development endeavours in space technology and building micro-satellites," said NTU President Dr Su Guaning.

"We hope that the successful launch of X-SAT will excite and inspire more of our youths to take up engineering, and possibly venture into space technology".

The NTU team members involved in the X-SAT project are currently trying to establish communication contact with the satellite from the Mission Control Station at NTU's Research Techno Plaza.

Once contact with X-SAT is established, an initial health status of the satellite will be ascertained and confirmed.

This experimental micro-satellite carries three payloads, namely an imaging system, an advanced navigation experimental set-up, and a parallel processing unit for image processing experiments.

Weighing 105kg, the X-SAT is designed to demonstrate technologies related to satellite based remote sensing and onboard image processing. It has a mission life of three years.

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 20 Apr 2011 12:14

The female on IBN called it PSVL not that i had some great expectation but still yaar, we dont call them DDM without any reason
Congrats ISRO,please repeat with GSLV

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 20 Apr 2011 12:23

Congratulations, ISRO!

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Apr 2011 12:33

Gagan wrote:The mantri in question was one Mr Natarajan, minister of state in the PMO.

Mr. Narayanaswamy, an old Congress hand from Pondicherry.

About the young brigade taking charge, both Prof. MGK Menon and Dr. Kasturirangan referred to that and were proud about that too. ISRO is grooming the succession. Good show ISRO.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Apr 2011 12:36

vina wrote: Who let him into that launch complex at all.

Apparently, Mantri ji is in charge of 'space' within the PMO.

Narad · Post by **Narad** » 20 Apr 2011 12:54

Did anyone notice the pat on the back by chairman ISRO to mission director when he makes his second point, that this success is a reassurance of faith in capabilities of ISRO??

The reassurance part, is obviously in the backdrop of earlier GSLV disasters. This was much needed success at this critical time.

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 20 Apr 2011 13:01

Apart from carrying three sophisticated cameras, the satellite also carries additional equipment called AIS (Automatic Information System) from COMDEV, Canada, for the surveillance of ships in the VHF band to derive their position and speed, among others.

carriers beware you are no longer stealthy in the wide IOR, we would know where you are, btw can this system catch ships when they are maintaining radio silence?

Shankar · Post by **Shankar** » 20 Apr 2011 13:36

I don't know if people agree with me but this Mr. Pallav Bagla talks too much.

-he does and his knowldge depth is very little

Shankar · Post by **Shankar** » 20 Apr 2011 13:52

CONGRATS - ISRO - we are all very proud of you

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 20 Apr 2011 14:13

Good going guys!!! The whole nation is proud of you.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 20 Apr 2011 14:17

Shankar wrote:I don't know if people agree with me but this Mr. Pallav Bagla talks too much.

-he does and his knowldge depth is very little

What has he done now?

The last time I saw him, he was really berating ISRO chief with his idiotic questions about the need for a space program, right after the Chandrayan mission. Idiot didn't have any other question ready. The entire focus of that interview was that.

I wish that ISRO chief rebuffs such questions, chides such reporters and shames them in front of the camera.

Something along the lines of

"India's space program is a national achievement, 1.2 billion Indians are proud of it. The world community at large has deeply appreciated what India has done in space. We at ISRO are world leaders in remote sensing satellite technology, have the largest ring such of satellites in orbit, and are providing extremely valuable knowledge to the country. We build all the communication satellites that our country uses, our satellites enable the spread of knowledge to the farthest and remotest reaches of our country and beyond.

I find such a line of questioning about ISRO immature and laughable"

AJames · Post by **AJames** » 20 Apr 2011 17:04

The PSLV reliability contrasts with GSLV failures. I think the problem with the GSLV is some basic design decisions that were taken early on which contribute to poor reliability. The main one is in my opinion the decision to start the cryogenic stage in mid-air. Cryogenic engines are inherently problematic, and particularly at the start up stage. Reliability has to be engineered in at the start, not added as an afterthought. The US space shuttle and Ariane heavy lift vehicles for example start their cryogenic stage on the ground before starting the solid boosters. This way, if the engines don't start properly, then the launch can be aborted and the engines shut down before the solid fuel boosters are fired. By adopting a cryogenic which is started in mid-air, ISRO has made a rod for its own back in my opinion.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 20 Apr 2011 17:06

SSridhar wrote:
Sid wrote:lol... full Babu giri in progress. Mantri ji jumped in pushing all scientists behind for speech session.
And, Mantri ji promptly thanked the UPA Chairperson for the success.

Why not? That's his source of roti-rozi, and with this impending lokpal bill, you never know!!

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 20 Apr 2011 17:19

Mantriji Congratulating PMji and Soniaji and all others on whom his job depends on

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 20 Apr 2011 17:23

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pslv- ... end-100126

India has world's largest collection of Remote sensing satellites and apparently 90% of the images produced by them are not used. Should we just say they are not actually remote sensing satellites but classified payloads disguised as remote sensing..?

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Apr 2011 17:26

Congrats ISRO.

chilarai · Post by **chilarai** » 20 Apr 2011 17:29

prithvi wrote:http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pslv- ... end-100126

India has world's largest collection of Remote sensing satellites and apparently 90% of the images produced by them are not used. Should we just say they are not actually remote sensing satellites but classified payloads disguised as remote sensing..?

That is Bagla back to his tricks

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 20 Apr 2011 17:32

chilarai wrote:
prithvi wrote:http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pslv- ... end-100126

India has world's largest collection of Remote sensing satellites and apparently 90% of the images produced by them are not used. Should we just say they are not actually remote sensing satellites but classified payloads disguised as remote sensing..?
That is Bagla back to his tricks

but apparently ISRO chief agreed to CAG report findings of 90% images not being used

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Apr 2011 17:48

If 90% of the output of the remote sensing satellites remain unused, then it is the problem of the end-user community, not ISRO.

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 20 Apr 2011 17:58

SSridhar wrote:If 90% of the output of the remote sensing satellites remain unused, then it is the problem of the end-user community, not ISRO.

no doubt ISRO had a great round of success with PSLVs...but there can also be a scenario of supply greater than demand..? a need to maintain the relevance of ISRO by launching customary PSLVs payloads..? to keep the mill running..? Just curious...
is there another way to spend the launch budget?

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 20 Apr 2011 18:04

Any one who is even an amature reader of satellite imagery will know that a very high percentage of images taken by satellites go waste due to cloud cover. SAR satellites have changed that, but India has what 1 or 2 SAR satellites in orbit?

What we see on google earth are images that have been selected after hundreds others went waste because there were clouds over the area. In fact such is the situation that I can see some pictures where a minor mist is present all over the area, but because there was no better picture available, that was posted.

Add to that the fact that the satellite might pass over an area during a time when the light is not adequate.

I understand it when the CAG has to rap NRSA, but
1. these satellites are dedicated to military surveillence activities also, and given the situation around india these last few years, these are the only eyes that GoI has at its disposal in many cases. For example to keep tabs on Chinese missile deployments in Tibet.
2. Why ignore that these satellites have military applications hain? Pallav Bagla is jumping up and down to get himself into prominence. The brief given to these reporters is to find some scandal. A scandal means more airtime for these reporters, and as it is there are 'few' reporters who know the 'S' of science and technology.
Since ISRO is a Government installation, and hence won't retaliate, they are a soft target for these reporters.

These reporters won't DARE to try this mischief with a private corporation. Notice how they hide their cameras when they have to do a tehelka type of thingie - they seek protection from some political party before they even dare to do that.

Luxtor · Post by **Luxtor** » 20 Apr 2011 18:11

AJames wrote:The PSLV reliability contrasts with GSLV failures. I think the problem with the GSLV is some basic design decisions that were taken early on which contribute to poor reliability. The main one is in my opinion the decision to start the cryogenic stage in mid-air. Cryogenic engines are inherently problematic, and particularly at the start up stage. Reliability has to be engineered in at the start, not added as an afterthought. The US space shuttle and Ariane heavy lift vehicles for example start their cryogenic stage on the ground before starting the solid boosters. This way, if the engines don't start properly, then the launch can be aborted and the engines shut down before the solid fuel boosters are fired. By adopting a cryogenic which is started in mid-air, ISRO has made a rod for its own back in my opinion.

All rockets that have cryogenic upper stage need to be started at high altitude (mid-air) at a later time after the initial lift off. Ariane does light its lower main cryogenic on the ground at lift off but the upper cryogenic is lighted during flight at higher altitude.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 20 Apr 2011 18:22

Congratulations ISRO. Excellent job.