“Meet India’s Pioneer Astronauts: PM Modi reveals names of 4 astronauts for Historic Gaganyaan Mission”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently revealed the identities of the four astronauts slated to embark on India’s maiden crewed space mission, Gaganyaan, during his visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The selected astronauts—Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan, and Shubanshu Shukla—are all esteemed officers from the Indian Air Force (IAF), holding ranks of either wing commanders or group captains, and boast extensive backgrounds as test pilots. Their prior experiences equip them with the necessary skills to handle exigencies swiftly and effectively.

Hailing from diverse backgrounds, Group Captain Nair, for instance, originates from the town of Nenmara in Palakkad and commenced his journey in the Air Force after graduating with an engineering degree from NSS College, also situated in Palakkad.

These four astronauts have been diligently undergoing rigorous training at the astronaut training facility located in Bengaluru. The selection process took place at the esteemed Institute of Aerospace Medicine under the purview of the Indian Air Force. Ultimately, three out of the four chosen individuals will partake in the historic Gaganyaan mission.

The collaboration between ISRO and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, marked a significant milestone with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in June 2019. As part of this collaboration, the astronauts underwent training at Russia’s esteemed Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre from February 2020 to March 2021, further enhancing their readiness for the mission.

In a notable development, the American space agency NASA has also pledged to train an Indian astronaut for a mission to the International Space Station by the close of 2024, as announced by NASA’s administrator Bill Nelson during his visit to Delhi in 2023. The Indian Express reported that the selection for this endeavor would likely draw from the pool of astronauts preparing for the Gaganyaan mission.

The Gaganyaan mission itself holds immense significance as it aims to showcase India’s prowess in human spaceflight by ferrying astronauts to an orbit 400 kilometers above Earth’s surface for a duration of three days. Upon completion of their mission objectives, the astronauts will safely return to Earth, with a planned landing in the Indian sea waters.