ISRO tests crew escape system for human spaceflight
Chennai, July 5 : In its aim towards human spaceflight, Indian space agency ISRO on Thursday carried out the first in a series of tests to qualify a crew escape system.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in a statement said the crew escape system is a critical technology for human spaceflight.
"The crew escape system is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort.
"The first test (Pad Abort Test) demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency at the launch pad," ISRO said.
According to the ISRO, the five-hour countdown was smooth. The crew escape system along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonne, lifted off at 7 a.m. at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The test was over in 259 seconds, during which the crew escape system along with crew module soared skyward, then arced out over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to Earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota.
The crew module reached an altitude of nearly 2.7 km under the power of its seven specifically designed quick acting solid motors to take away the crew module to a safe distance without exceeding the safe g-levels.
Nearly 300 sensors recorded various mission performance parameters during the test flight.
Three recovery boats are being exercised to retrieve the module as part of the recovery protocol.
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Goa Cong MP says he got ECI notice asking him to prove identity to retain name in electoral rolls
Panaji (PTI): Congress' Lok Sabha MP from South Goa Viriato Fernandes has alleged that he received a notice from the Election Commission of India (ECI), in which he was asked to appear before it with documents to prove his identity in order to retain his name in the electoral rolls.
Fernandes, a former Navy officer, said that subjecting an MP to this kind of scrutiny confirms concerns raised by the Opposition that the ECI's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was aimed at deleting the names of legitimate voters to prevent them from participating in the voting process.
The Chief Electoral Office (CEO) in Goa, however, later issued a clarification, saying the MP's enumeration form was placed under the "unmapped" category and a hearing notice was automatically generated and issued to him as mandatory details were not filled in.
In a social media post, Fernandes said, "Received notice from the ECI to appear with documents for proving my identity in order to retain his name in electoral roll. This notice is coming on the backdrop of ECI having subjected every contestant during last Lok Sabha polls in 2024, including me, with the highest level of scrutiny before clearing name for contesting the elections."
"Incidentally, I have been voting since 1989 after becoming eligible, thanks to late PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji's initiative of giving voting rights for 18 year olds," he said.
He said he has travelled to Goa multiple times "from far off places of military posting" during his 26 years of service in the Indian Navy just to cast his vote, be it for Lok Sabha, assembly or zilla panchayat election.
"If a Member of Parliament can be subjected to this scrutiny, wonder the state of a common man, confirming concerns raised (by) Opposition parties and NGOs/Citizens about SIR being carried out by ECI to delete names of legitimate voters and prevent (them) from participating in the democratic process of voting," he added.
In the clarification issued later, the Goa CEO said, "During the course of the SIR, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) of Part No. 19 collected the enumeration form pertaining to the Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Captain Viriato Hipolito Mendonca Fernandes."
It was observed that the enumeration form did not contain mandatory details of the last SIR, including the assembly constituency number, part number and serial number in the electoral roll. As these essential particulars were not filled in, the BLO application could not automatically link the form with the existing electoral roll record, it said.
Accordingly, in the present case, the enumeration form was placed under the "unmapped" category by the system, and a hearing notice was generated and issued automatically as per the prescribed procedure, the CEO said, adding that the matter was under inquiry.
Received notice from ECI to appear with documents for proving my identity in order to retain my name in electoral roll. This notice is coming on the backdrop of ECI having subjected every contestant during last Lok Sabha polls in 2024 including me with the highest level of… pic.twitter.com/BMWrzw26yC
— Capt. Viriato Fernandes (@ViriatoFern) January 7, 2026
