SciTech

India’s own moon walk

ISRO will set up a simulator in Bangalore that will recreate lunar terrain making India the third country with an exclusive ‘extrasurface’ test drive

Neethu Reghukumar

Posted On Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 11:34:42 PM

This helps us understand the problems encountered by rovers on the moon’s surface

-- M Annadurai,ISRO’s Chandrayaan project director

India is set to take a huge leap in space science and Bangalore is once again in the forefront.

In six months, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will set up a Simulator Lunar Terrain (SLT) in an as yet undisclosed location in the city. India will become the third country in the world to have an exclusive ‘extrasurface’ test drive.

“This will be a terrain testing facility. Our basic idea is to recreate the moon’s surface on earth which helps us in getting first-hand information on how a rover works.”

“The SLT will have features like lunar terrain and its gravitational force,” ISRO’s Chandrayaan project director M Annadurai told Bangalore Mirror. “This helps us understand the problems encountered by rovers on the moon’s surface.

For example, if a rover encounters a problem on simulator, we can adjust its permiter and design so that we do not face the problems in real time. Once the simulator is ready, it will be a test drive similar to that cars currently undergo in its factories,” he added.

D Sreekumar, Group Director, Space Astronomy Group, ISRO said, “We are planning to create a small area which will look like the moon to test the lunar rover. With a simulator in place, it will be easy for us to understand the lunar rover’s path.”

ASTRONAUT CENTRE
According to ISRO officials, the SLT could be located at the state-of-the-art centre, costing Rs 1,000 crore, that is coming up close to the Bangalore International Airport. Besides housing offices of ISRO, this new facility will have a simulator for astronauts.

The centre would be like a big swimming pool where astronauts can go below the water and learn to adjust to zero gravity situations. “Facilities like thermal cycling and radiation regulating chambers will also be established in this centre,’’ an ISRO official revealed.

This centre, to be ready in the next couple of years, will also train astronauts in new space technologies, acceleration aspects when the vehicle zooms into space, in dealing with rescue and recovery, study of radiation environments and to cope with long and potentially hazardous space journeys.

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