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DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

  • 06 September, 2022

  • 5 Min Read

Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator: ISRO

Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator: ISRO

The Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD) device, which could help with the cost-effective recovery of spent rocket stages and safely land payloads on distant planets, has recently undergone successful testing by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Image Source - Economictimes

What is IAD?

  • The Vikram Sarabhai Space Center of ISRO created, developed, and successfully test-flew the IAD (VSSC).
  • The Rohini-300 (RH300 Mk II) sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station successfully tested the IAD.
  • Scientists from India and beyond, as well as ISRO, frequently employ Rohini-sounding rockets to fly demonstrations of new technologies.
  • The IAD slows down an object that is falling through the atmosphere.
  • Initially, the IAD was folded and kept in the rocket's payload bay. The IAD was inflated at a height of around 84 km, at which point it began to fall through the atmosphere carrying a sounding rocket's cargo.
  • The IAD has consistently decreased the payload's velocity through aerodynamic drag while maintaining the expected trajectory.
  • Drag is the force that opposes an object's motion through a fluid. The term aerodynamic drag or air resistance is used when the fluid is a gas, such as air.

Importance:

  • The IAD offers enormous potential for a range of space applications, including recovering rocket spent stages, putting payloads on Mars or Venus, and creating habitats in orbit for manned spaceflight missions.
  • The newest technology may make it possible to safely land payloads on distant planets and retrieve spent rocket stages at a reasonable cost.
  • Future Mars and Venus expeditions by ISRO can also use it.

Also, Read - the International Court Of Justice - ICJ

Source: The Indian Express


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