The microgravity tower at IIT Madras, the fourth largest operational facility in the world, installed on the campus in 2017
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

 

ExTeM, or Extraterrestrial Manufacturing, a centre at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras), found mention in the Prime Minister’s Maan Ki Baat recently. The PM said the researchers were working on technologies that could be developed and used in outer space. 

To elaborate, ExTem researchers, who come from various disciplines, are working to develop technologies for future human settlement on the Moon and Mars. Their experiments include tackling challenges of construction infrastructure, 3D printing tools, and extracting materials crucial for sustainable space exploration. 

Established under the Institute of Eminence scheme, ExTeM aims to advance India’s space 2.0 initiatives and broaden access to space for diverse industries, including resource extraction, infrastructure development, and pharmaceutical research. 

Microgravity drop tower 

The researchers are investigating the distinctive benefits of microgravity environments, which allow for the production of superior materials, such as crystal-free optical fibres with advanced properties and higher-quality diamonds, all with potential applications on Earth. Researchers are also studying the behaviour of beneficial microbes in microgravity. 

The ExTeM team includes professors and research students from civil engineering, metallurgy, biotechnology, mechanical engineering, and physics working on various areas, including developing construction materials, conducting parabolic flights, creating waterless concrete using Martian soil, strategies to enhance microbial growth, growing better crystals in space using microgravity, welding, and converting lunar soil into metals and ceramics. 

At the institute’s microgravity drop tower, the fourth largest operational tower in the world, experiments are done under microgravity conditions as found in outer space (artificial zero gravity), thanks to the work of Amit Kumar, an aerospace engineering professor. 

Making in space for space  

Institute director V. Kamakoti said as space stations are becoming important for exploratory studies, climate modelling, and enviro-studies, there is much talk about developing settlements on the Moon and Mars. It requires building technologies, which the institute has taken up as ‘Making in space for space’ project.  

It involves developing advanced techniques such as 3D printing of components and in-situ resource use to produce essential components, including lunar habitats and spacecraft parts. 

ExTeM’s second focus is ‘Making in space for earth’. “An example is the semiconductor crystals grown in space may have fewer defects suitable for next generation chips used in quantum computing. The same principle applies for advanced optical fibres and bioprinting for human implants like artificial hearts. On Earth, printing minute capillaries for the heart is challenging due to self-weight, which can collapse. However, in microgravity, where gravity’s effects are eliminated, printing becomes significantly more achievable,” Mr. Kamakoti explained. 

Researchers will harness resources available in outer space, such as lunar regolith and Martian soil, to reduce reliance on earth-based supply chains, significantly lowering costs and payload requirements. 

Sathyan Subbiah, coordinator of ExTeM, said the centre was addressing fundamental studies and technology developments. “A battery of microgravity tests is planned in platforms ranging from drop towers to parabolic flights and possibly extending to suborbital flights,” he said. 

File picture of the lunar lander of the Chang’e-4 probe in a photo taken in 2019.
| Photo Credit: AP

China on May 3 launched a lunar probe mission to collect samples for the first time from the far side of the moon and bring them to Earth for scientific studies.

The Chang’e-6 mission is tasked with collecting and then returning samples from the moon’s far side to Earth — the first endeavour of its kind in the history of human lunar exploration, China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.

The lunar probe was carried by a Long March-5 Y8 rocket which blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the coast of China’s southern island province of Hainan.

Chang’e 6 consists of four components: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a re-entry module, according to a report by the state-run China Daily.

After collecting dust and rocks on the moon, the ascender will transport the samples to the lunar orbiter for transfer to the re-entry module, which will carry them back to Earth.

The CNSA said earlier that the mission is poised to make breakthroughs in key technologies, such as automatic sample collection, take-off and ascent from the far side of the moon. Meanwhile, the probe will carry out scientific exploration of the landing zone.

The CNSA has announced that scientific instruments from France, Italy and the European Space Agency/Sweden will be on board the lander of the Chang’e-6 mission and a Pakistani payload on the orbiter. A major space power, China in the past successfully launched unmanned missions to the moon which included landing a rover. China has also sent a rover to Mars.

Earlier, China announced plans for a manned lunar landing by 2030.

India became the first country to land near the little-explored lunar south pole region last year when its Chandrayaan-3’s lander, carrying the Pragyaan rover successfully landed there.

Tiruchirappalli:

After the successful Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 mission, India is now looking at human exploration in space. Chandrayaan-3 project director P Veeramuthuvel, while speaking on the Gaganyaan mission, said that a roadmap is there and the launch will be soon.

Speaking at an event, Mr Veeramuthuvel said, “Soft landing in itself is a technology. India is the fourth country to have that. We mastered that. Then only human exploration is possible. You know Gaganyaan program is coming up. It’s a human exploration program. We have the roadmap and we will have the launch soon.”

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started preparations for unmanned flight tests as part of the Gaganyaan mission.

A post on the ISRO’s official handle on social media platform X read, “Mission Gaganyaan: ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission. Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway.”

According to ISRO, the success of this test flight will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian astronauts.

The agency in a release regarding the First Crew Module for the Gaganyaan test flight said that the first development flight Test Vehicle (TV-D1) is in the final stages of preparation.

While the rocket itself will be constructed elsewhere, all internal systems for Gaganyaan will be developed in Ahmedabad.

ISRO’s Ahmedabad facility will be responsible for building two critical systems for the Gaganyaan mission- the cabin systems and communication systems.

The cabin will house three seats for astronauts, along with a lighting system and two display screens to monitor various parameters inside the cabin.

Gaganyaan represents India’s first manned space mission, and it aims to send three astronauts into an orbit of 400 km above the Earth’s surface.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)