Express News Service By

Express News Service

The prototype of a crew module ISRO plans to use for futuristic manned space missions will be displayed outside the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) for the first time.

The crew module floating in the Bay of Bengal after the December 2014 mission (file pic)

The module will be one of the attractions at the space expo which opens in Kochi city this week as part of this year's World Space Week (WSW) celebrations, VSSC officials said. The Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) was the only payload aboard the sub-orbital test-flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III) which lifted off from Sriharikota on December 18, 2014.

The cup cake-shaped module was taken to a height of 126 kms and released. It landed in the Bay of Bengal from where it was recovered by the Coast Guard. After being subjected to a gamut of studies, the module was put on display at the space museum of the VSSC in Thumba.

This, however, is the first time that the module, which was developed by VSSC is being taken out of the facility for public display. The space expo will be held at Ernakulathappan grounds (next to Durbar Hall), Kochi, from October 4 to 10. It will showcase various missions of ISRO, societal applications of the Indian space programme. Former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan will inaugurate the expo.