The Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) launched by Polar =

Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre =

(SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on January 10, 2007 was successfully =

recovered today (January 22, 2007) after being maneuvered to reenter =

the earth=92s atmosphere and descend over Bay of Bengal about 140 km =

East of Sriharikota.


        http://isro.org/pressrelease/Jan22_2007.htm



                Russell

Ref: Matthew McMahon

__________________

Since its launch, SRE-1 was going round the earth in a circular polar =

orbit at an altitude of 637 km. In preparation for its reentry, SRE-1 =

was put into an elliptical orbit with a perigee (nearest point to =

earth) of 485 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 639 km by =

issuing commands from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) 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, Mauritius, Sriharikota, Biak in Indonesia, =

Saskatoon in Canada, Svalbard in Norway besides shipborne and airborne =

terminals.

Today, 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 km with a velocity =

of 8 km/sec (29,000 km per hour). 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 =

breaking had considerably reduced its velocity to 101 m/sec (363 km =

per hour). Pilot and drogue parachute deployments helped in further =

reducing its velocity to 47 m/sec (about 170 km per hour).

The main parachute was deployed at about 2 km altitude and finally, =

SRE-1 splashed down in the Bay of Bengal with a velocity of 12 m/sec =

(about 43 km per hour) at 09:46 am. The flotation system, which =

immediately got triggered, kept the capsule floating. Recovery =

operations were supported and carried out by the Indian Coast Guard =

and Indian Navy using ships, aircraft and helicopters.

During its stay in orbit for the last 12 days, the two experiments on =

board SRE-1 were successfully conducted under micro gravity =

conditions. One of the experiments was related to study of metal =

melting and crystallisation under micro gravity conditions. This =

experiment, jointly designed by the Indian Institute of Science, =

Bangalore and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, was =

performed in an Isothermal Heating Furnace. The second experiment, =

designed by National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, was =

intended to study the synthesis of nano-crystals under micro gravity =

conditions. This experiment can help in designing better biomaterials =

having closest proximity with natural biological products. The =

experimental results will be analysed in due course by the principal =

scientific investigators of the two experiments.

The successful launch, in-orbit operation of the on board experiments =

and reentry and recovery of SRE-1 has demonstrated India=92s capability =

in important technologies like aero-thermo structures, deceleration =

and flotation systems, navigation, guidance and control. SRE-1 is an =

important beginning for providing a low cost platform for =

micro-gravity experiments in space science and technology and return =

specimen from space.


-- =

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