History
The ASLV made four launches, of which one was successful, two failed to achieve orbit, and a fourth achieved a lower than planned orbit which decayed quickly. The type made its maiden flight on 24 March 1987, and its final flight on 4 May 1994.
Three successive failures plunged the project into a crisis. ISRO scientist had to confront new technological challenges and one of the important design changes was the addition of the 2 strap on boosters attached to either side of the first stage. Strap on separation, bulbous heat shield, "closed loop" guidance system as opposed to the "open loop" guidance system of the SLV-3 and heat shield management and separation had to be adapted by the scientists. However, all the problems and new technological challenges were overcome with ISRO's customary resolve and zeal, and the important ASLV program crossed an important rubicon.
Read more about this topic: Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“I saw the Arab map.
It resembled a mare shuffling on,
dragging its history like saddlebags,
nearing its tomb and the pitch of hell.”
—Adonis [Ali Ahmed Said] (b. 1930)