We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year, says ISRO chief Radhakrishnan
But do we really need a Chandrayan, a acheivement some 41 yrs old and abandoned by west. We lack effort to build infrastruture in interiors of Bharat and let poverty rise. In 2010-11 budget INR 400 Crores were given for 2nd green revolution in Eastern states - Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and can you calculate the cost of laying down of 100 m track for Delhi Metro Project. Interestingly 37% of Indian population is poor by Indian Standard. Afte independence we were told through the propaganda of education that it is very important to preserve the culture of Tribals and the people untouched with mainstream development. And yes we preserved the poverty and sarcastically only poevrty is the culture of Bharat. To sake of few we are reinventing the wheels.
Why not we put our all in Cryogenics for medical purpose? Ahh- Let Philips or GE or Siemens do such nasty things.
Won't it be better if ISRO shares its achivement with the nation and give its highly confidential technologies for the people of India, train peoplle to use technology developed and to initiate research in new areas rather to invest in Chandrayan.
A little fact about Cryogenics -
The United States was the first country to develop cryogenic rocket engines. The Centaur upper stage, with RL-10 engines, registered its first successful flight in 1963 and is still used on the Atlas V rocket. America's early mastery of the technology paved the way for the J-2 engine, which powered the upper stages of the immensely powerful Saturn V rocket that sent humans to the Moon.
Other spacefaring nations followed. The Japanese LE-5 engine flew in 1977, the French HM-7 in 1979 and the Chinese YF-73 in 1984. The Soviet Union, first country to put a satellite and later a human in space, successfully launched a rocket with a cryogenic engine only in 1987. And since we heavily depended on USSR for our Missiles, our Space Programs waited for and then agreed to buy the technology. Story goes back to 1982 when ISRO proposed to have Cryogenics and the looked to either develop or to acquire. The fall of USSR and refusal of poor Russia abandoned the dream of having a shortcut for Cryogenics and then we started with leftovers of Cryogenics to develop Indian Cryogenics to propel Rocket.
The GSLV-D3, which was launched amidst high hopes, having been powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time, ended in failure after the cryogenic engine failed to ignite. As per the ISRO's plans, it is a GSLV powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine that will put Chandrayaan-2 in orbit. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will also put a lander-cum-rover on the lunar soil.
The GSLV-D3 mission had three objectives: to develop and launch an indigenous cryogenic stage with the engine and associated systems; to evaluate the performance of the indigenous cryogenic stage and engine; and to put the communication satellite GSAT-4 into orbit. Only the first objective was achieved, the ISRO Chairman said.
S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said the cryogenic technology was the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion. France and the U.S. had also met with failures in using cryogenic engines. “Failures in cryogenic technology are not unusual. It is difficult to test the cryogenic engine even on the ground. We are disappointed. But we will overcome [the problems],” said Mr. Ramakrishnan
The GSLV-D3 rocket, including the indigenous cryogenic stage, cost Rs.180 crore. The ISRO spent Rs.36 crore to develop its own cryogenic stage with the engine. GSAT-4 cost Rs.130 crore.
Dr. Radhakrishnan said the cryogenic technology, which enabled communication satellites to be put into a geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km, was a highly complex technology. The GSLV-D3 mission was not successful and “we have to face it,” he said. “We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year [by launching GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine] … We have to work with dedication and I am sure Team ISRO will do it.” He refuted suggestions that there was a problem with the design of the GSLV because three out of the six GSLV missions from 2001 had failed
