PM Modi Announces Four Astronauts Selected for Gaganyaan Mission
During his visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed the identities of the four astronauts selected to embark on the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Gaganyaan mission. This mission marks India’s maiden crewed space expedition, venturing into low-Earth orbit.
Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan, and Shubanshu Shukla have been chosen as the astronauts for India’s inaugural crewed space mission. All of them hold the rank of either wing commander or group captain in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and possess substantial experience as test pilots. This background equips them with the necessary skills to react promptly in unforeseen circumstances.
According to the Malayalam-language publication Mathrubhumi, Nair hails from Nenmara in Palakkad. After obtaining an engineering degree from NSS College in Palakkad, he joined the Air Force in 1999.
The quartet of astronauts has been undergoing training at the space agency’s astronaut training center in Bengaluru. The selection process for the astronauts took place at the IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine. However, only three of them will ultimately embark on the Gaganyaan mission into space.
In June 2019, ISRO and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, entered into a memorandum of understanding to train four astronauts. From February 2020 to March 2021, the astronauts received training at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.
The administrator of the American space agency NASA, Bill Nelson, announced during a visit to Delhi in 2023 that NASA would train an Indian astronaut for a mission to the International Space Station by the end of 2024. The Indian Express reported that the selection process would likely involve choosing one of the four individuals currently undergoing preparations for the Gaganyaan mission.
The Gaganyaan mission aims to showcase India’s capability in human spaceflight by sending astronauts into orbit 400 kilometers above Earth for a 3-day mission. Following this, the astronauts will safely return to Earth with a landing in the waters of the Indian Sea.
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