India successfully conducts historic space-docking test

Indian space agency ISRO has for the first time successfully conducted space docking by joining two small spacecraft together in space.

The technology is essential for the country’s future ambition to build an Indian space station and send a man to the Moon.

The mission was called SpaDeX to blow From Sriharikota launch pad in South India on 30 December. Two spacecraft launched on the same rocket separate in space. The docking procedure, initially scheduled for January 7, was rescheduled several times.

On Thursday morning, the space agency announced that it had made history by becoming the fourth country in the world to have such technology after the United States, Russia and China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the ISRO office in Bengaluru when scientists conducted the test.

“This is an important step forward for India’s ambitious space missions in the coming years,” he later posted on Twitter.

Federal Science Minister Jitendra Singh expressed relief that the docking had “finally” happened.

The two spacecraft on SpaDeX (short for Space Docking Experiment) are called SDX01, or Chaser, and SDX02, or Target. Each weighed about 220 kilograms (485 pounds) and, since their launch, they had been traveling in space at a carefully chosen speed.

“They were thrown into space together, but at the time of separation, they were kept at different velocities so that there was a distance of 10-20 km between them,” said Mila Mitra, former NASA scientist and Delhi-based co-founder. ” Space education company Stem & Space told the BBC.

“During the docking, scientists maneuvered them to close the distance so they could mate,” he said.

The docking was initially scheduled for January 7, but ISRO later delayed it by two days saying they “need to do some more testing through simulation” before the actual docking.

The second time, it said there had been an error trying to get the satellites closer, but also added the spacecraft were safe,

On Sunday, ISRO said that scientists have managed to reduce the distance between the chaser and the target first to 15 meters and then to 3 meters. He said that after the test attempt, the spacecraft was “moved back to a safe distance” and they were analyzing the data.

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To begin with, both spacecraft had to be in the same orbit so that the chaser could begin approaching the target.

On Thursday morning, scientists began to slowly reduce the speed of both spacecraft – bringing them closer until they were just 3 meters apart. Their connectors were then joined together.

In the next step, the two spacecraft were fully connected, creating an airtight passageway for the safe transfer of material or crew, completing the space docking.

An ISRO official told the BBC that over the next two-three days, the mission will perform what is being considered one of its most important experiments – it will transfer electrical power from the chaser to the target.

Ms Mitra says the idea is to demonstrate that one spacecraft can be sent into space to service another.

The experiment will then perform “undocking and separation of the two satellites”.

Ms Mitra says the mission will also test India’s capabilities for inter-satellite communications because during docking and undocking, the spacecraft will also have to communicate with the Earth station and each other to know each other’s position and To know the velocity.

The spacecraft are also carrying scientific instruments and cameras that will be deployed later. Over the next two years, they will measure radiation in space and monitor natural resources on Earth.

ISRO, which is known for making its missions economical, is also using a part of the rocket that carried SpaDeX to space – which under normal circumstances would have become space debris – to conduct some important experiments in orbit for three months. To do.

Rhyme – short for PS4-Orbital Experiment Module – is carrying 24 payloads and has already conducted two successful experiments.

Seed germination was first demonstrated. ISRO last week Tweeted A video states that “Cowpea sprouts have unveiled their first leaves in space in micro-gravity”. Micro-gravity is a state of near-weightlessness experienced in spacecraft.

Scientists say this is great news because it means future astronauts could produce food during long-duration missions.

The second experiment involves the robotic arm, which Ms. Mitra says is one of the rocket’s most important payloads. A Video ISRO’s X account shows a robotic arm moving forward to grab a piece of space debris.

Ms Mitra says this arm “will play an important role during the construction of the space station because it can be used to grab things and keep them in place”. He further said, it will also be useful in Chandrayaan-4 – India’s next mission to the Moon, which aims to collect and bring back samples of lunar soil.

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