“PM Modi Unveils Crew for India’s Historic Gaganyaan Space Mission”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the names of the four astronauts selected for India’s inaugural crewed space mission, Gaganyaan, during his visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The chosen astronauts are Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan, and Shubanshu Shukla, all distinguished members of the Indian Air Force (IAF) holding ranks of either wing commanders or group captains. Their selection underscores their extensive experience as test pilots, equipping them with the necessary skills to navigate challenging situations effectively.
Nair, hailing from Nenmara in Palakkad, joined the Air Force in 1999 following his engineering degree from NSS College in Palakkad. These astronauts have been undergoing rigorous training at the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) astronaut training facility in Bengaluru. The selection process took place at the IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine, with only three astronauts eventually embarking on the Gaganyaan mission.
In June 2019, ISRO and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, signed a memorandum of understanding for astronaut training. Subsequently, the four astronauts underwent training at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre from February 2020 to March 2021. Additionally, NASA has committed to training an Indian astronaut for a mission to the International Space Station by the end of 2024, as confirmed by the agency’s administrator, Bill Nelson, during his visit to Delhi in 2023.
The Gaganyaan mission is poised to demonstrate India’s prowess in human spaceflight by launching astronauts into a 400-kilometer orbit above Earth for a 3-day mission. Upon completion, they will safely return to Earth, with a planned landing in Indian sea waters.
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