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View Full Version : Go ISRO Go!!! Perfect launch of PSLV-C6


rameshp
May 5th, 2005, 05:35 PM
Perfect PSLV-C6 puts Cartosat-I, Hamsat in orbit :up: :clap:
K. PRAVEEN KUMAR

Posted online: Friday, May 06, 2005 at 0213 hours IST

SRIHARIKOTTA, MAY 5: Throwing up a haze of fumes, smoke and debris, the PSLV-C6 took off from the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre at 10.15 am today, amid loud cheers from ISRO bosses in the control room.

After 18.02 minutes from the launch, it injected India’s eleventh remote-sensing satellite, 1,560-kg Cartosat-I, into the 627-km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit. And as stipulated, put the 42.5-kg satellite Hamsat into orbit, 40 seconds after Cartosat’s injection. This is the highest payload weight that PSLV has launched so far.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who had come down from Delhi specially for the launch, was seen congratulating ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, immediately after the heat shield broke open to launch the satellite in orbit.

‘‘The country is proud of you. I congratulate all of you who have worked to make this mission a success,’’ the President said. He said the Indian Space Programme has come a long way since a SLV-3 was used to launch a 40-kg satellite into the Lower Earth Orbit when he was the project director in July, 1980. ‘‘Now, we can launch a satellite 100 times heavier into the same orbit.’’

After this second successful launch during his tenure, Nair said: ‘‘We had a fantastic launch and we have got the accurate trajectory.’’ He added that he was very happy with the success of the Rs 400-crore Second Launch Pad (SLP).

‘‘Despite exposure to bad weather, sun and rain, the vehicle has performed its best,’’ Nair said. He said the minimum launch pad occupancy offered by the SLP would give them a possibility to launch at least six vehicles per year. ‘‘As India’s need is only four launches a year, we can use the available time for launching other country vehicles on a commercial basis,’’ he added.

At a press conference, Nair said the ground-control facility in Sriharikotta High Altitude Range has received the first signals from Cartosat-I. This cartography satellite would be operational within 48 hours and the pictures from the two panchromatic, high resolution (2.6 metre) cameras would be received at various ground stations of ISTRAC, both in India and abroad.

The ISRO chairman added that the commercial operation of this satellite would only be decided after it completes mapping our nation.

‘‘We have received the first signals from Hamsat, the 42.5 kg, piggyback satellite which will be of great help to the Amateur Radio Operators (HAMs), at our Lucknow ground station,’’ he said.

@ Indian Express (http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=69861)

Go ISRO Go!!! :smash:

rameshp
May 5th, 2005, 05:44 PM
Also, cheers to ISRO for the state of the art Second Launch Pad at Satish Dawan Space Center, Sriharikota. :up: :clap:

Second Launch Pad (SLP): SLP built at SDSC SHAR at Sriharikota is a state-of-the-art launch complex.
SLP is configured as a universal launch pad capable of accommodating all the launch vehicles of ISRO including the advanced launch vehicles to be built in the next decade and beyond (unlike dedicated launch pads elsewhere in the world mainly catering to a particular launch vehicle).

SLP uses the integrate-transfer-and-launch concept. The launch vehicle is integrated inside a permanent building called Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). After checkout, it is transported on rails to the launch pad using a Mobile Launch Pedestal (MLP). The vehicle is then interfaced with the launch pedestal and fuel-filling and checkout operations carried out. The launch takes place after the final countdown.
SLP helps to increase the launch frequency by reducing the turn around time for integration of the fully assembled vehicles.

SLP was built by involving Indian industry on a turnkey basis including design and engineering, procurement of systems and sub-systems, fabrication, erection and commissioning of facilities including civil works.

SLP consists of the following major elements:

Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB): It is in this building that the vehicle integration is carried out on a Mobile Launch Pedestal (MLP) and then the vehicle transferred to Umbilical Tower for launch after carrying out the total checkout of the integrated vehicle. The 82 m tall VAB houses a 200 tonne and a 30 tonne capacity cranes for lifting vehicle stages. It has 20 horizontal sliding doors of varying sizes with the largest being 13 x 20 m. Six 14 x 6 m foldable and vertically repositionable platforms at different levels help vehicle integration and servicing. VAB is equipped with an elevator also.

Mobile Launch Pedestal (MLP): The 19.5 x 19.5 m MLP with a bogie system is used to transfer the integrated vehicle from VAB to the launch pad located at a distance of 1 km. With a height of 8.6 m,
MLP weighs about 700 tonne and caters to both PSLV and GSLV requirements. It has a removable bogie system at the bottom, with a hydraulic system.

Umbilical Tower (UT): The 70 m tall, 10 x 10 m UT weighs about 980 tonne. The fully integrated vehicle on MLP, on its arrival on rails, is interfaced with UT with electrical, pneumatic and fluid filling lines. The final operations like fuel filling, gas charging and the vehicle checkout are carried out on UT. It has three platforms, which can be swung and also positioned/moved vertically to different levels. UT has an elevator and a 10 tonne tower crane at the top. It has a cryo arm for cryogenic fuel filling operations and monitoring till the last minute of launch operations.

Jet Deflector: The jet deflector system is used to move the hot gases, ejected from the launcher during lift-off, away from the launch pad so as to reduce the thermal and acoustic loads on the vehicle. The design and construction of jet deflector was one of the major engineering challenges. It has diaphragm wall construction with piles driven 45 m below ground, constructed for the first time on the east coast of India.

Lightning Protection Towers: In order to protect the launch vehicle from severe lightning when the vehicle is exposed for longer duration, lightning protection towers are erected around UT. There are four lightening protection towers of 120 m height around UT, which are interconnected through cables.

Propellant Storage and Servicing Facilities: Propellant storage and servicing facilities cater to the storage of about 1000 tonne of earth storable propellants (UDMH and N2O4), cryogenic propellants (liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen), water, etc. A large gas storage and supply system to supply the required quantity of Helium for on-board systems and Nitrogen system for meeting the purging requirements is part of this facility. A water tank of 5 lakh litre capacity is also included.

Utilities: These include instrumentation and control systems, compressed air and fire fighting system, overhead tank, water treatment plant, electrical sub-station, air conditioning plant and safety system.

Track for movement of MLP: MLP with the integrated vehicle moves on a twin double rail track with a span of
14 m and a length of 1 km.

more @ isro.org (http://www.isro.org/Cartosat/Page2.htm)

rameshp
May 5th, 2005, 06:17 PM
PSLV Video from NDTV:
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Pslvlaunch

max de Indiana
May 5th, 2005, 06:50 PM
http://us.jagran.com/jagranimage/photogal.htm

vyomkeshsaxena
November 6th, 2005, 09:20 PM
read this story also :o

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1286050.cms

sarv_shaktimaan
November 6th, 2005, 10:19 PM
Hurray ! ! ! amazing achievement ! ! ! congratulations to the ISRO....

I had been to Sriharikota last year in May....I was doing a course in astronomy and we had a field trip to Satish Dhavan Space Centre......It was a very humbling experience....I tell you, the scientists and other people working there were so intelligent and hard working....It was a different world inside....foolproof security...serene and beautiful surroundings and one of the most beautiful and cleanest beaches I have ever seen.....

The new launch pad (2nd one) was in construction back then......I remember the safety manager telling us that he wished all Laskar-e-Toiba and Mujahideen terrorists be put into the cavity under the satelite when it is about to take off, so they would be charred to death.....he also commented that everyone at Sriharikota considered the launch pads as idols of worship because of the amount of hardwork and sleepless nights they had spent to get India to that level of technical expertise....after saying this he went over and touched the launch pad to get some soot (carbon deposit) and put it on his forehead as tilak.....we all had gooseflesh at that point of time....