PM Modi announced the names of 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission, India’s first manned space mission.
PM announced the names of 4 astronauts for GaganYaan mission, country's first manned space mission.
Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on Tuesday 27th February announced the names of 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission who will pilot the country’s first manned space mission, which will fly into Low Earth Orbit.
The 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission are Indian Air Force Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Angad Pratap, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Subhanshu Shukla, who are leading the ambitious space mission program of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). These four have extensive experience as test pilots of the Air Force.
The announcement preceded the successful test of India’s manned readiness for ISRO’s cryogenic engine, which will be used in the LVM 3 vehicle for all Gaganyaan missions.
It is good to know that LVM 3 is ISRO’s new heavy lift vehicle to cost-effectively launch 4000 kg spacecraft into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The announcement was made at a function at the Vikram Sarabhai Center in Thiruvananthapuram, where Prime Minister Modi awarded ‘astronaut wings’ to selected individuals.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that It was a very special moment for me to hand over wings to the four Indian astronaut-designates. They reflect the hopes, aspirations and optimism of 140 crore Indians.
Who are 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission?
According to ISRO, Group Captain Angad Pratap and three other members of 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission underwent training in Russia for 13 months.
Prashant Balakrishnan Nair
Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair is from Kerala. As a pilot, he has also flown Sukhoi fighter plane. He is an alumnus of NDA and a recipient of Sword of Honor at the Air Force Academy.
Subhanshu Shukla
Subhanshu Shukla was born on 10 October 1985 in Lucknow, UP. He is an NDA alumnus and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 17 June 2006. He is a fighter combat leader and a test pilot with nearly 2000 hours of flying experience. He has flown various types of aircraft including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32.
Ajith Krishnan
Ajith Krishnan was born on 19 April 1982 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is an alumnus of NDA and a recipient of the President’s Gold Medal and Sword of Honor at the Air Force Academy. He was commissioned into the Fighter Wing of the Indian Air Force on 21 June 2003. He has flown various types of aircraft including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-21, Mig-29, Jaguar, Dornier, An-32 etc. .
Angad pratap
He was born on 17 July 1982 in Prayagraj. He is an NDA alumnus and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 18 December 2004. He is a flying instructor and test pilot and has around 2000 hours of flying experience. He has flown various types of aircraft including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32.
Extensive Training for gaganyaan mission
The 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission were trained at the space agency’s Astronaut Training Center in Bangalore.
These four were selected at the Indian Air Force’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine. Only three of them would eventually go into space as part of the Gaganyaan mission.
In June 2019, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, entered into a memorandum of understanding for the training of 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission. Subsequently, from February 2020 to March 2021, the four astronauts underwent training at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
During a visit to Delhi in 2023, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that the American space agency NASA would provide training to an Indian astronaut for a mission to the International Space Station by the conclusion of 2024.
The Gaganyaan mission will showcase India’s human spaceflight capabilities by launching astronauts into an orbit 400 km above Earth for a 3-day mission. They will then land in the waters of the Indian Ocean and be safely brought back to Earth.
During a short visit to Kerala, Prime Minister Modi visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. At the center, he reviewed the advancements in the Gaganyaan mission. He is accompanied by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Minister Muralitharan and ISRO Chairman S Somanath.
What is Gaganyaan mission
This will be India’s first space mission, where 4 astronauts for Gaganyaan mission will be taken into low orbit for some time. The Gaganyaan mission will be launched in 2025 and will send three astronauts into space in a 400 km low orbit. After spending two to three days in space, they will be landed safely in the waters of the Indian Ocean. Under this, this year is very important and many test flights related to the mission will be completed this year.
An ISRO release said that the mission is carried out through an advanced strategy taking into account indigenous expertise, experience of Indian industry, intellectual capacity of Indian educational and research institutions and modern technology available to international organizations.
The previous week, ISRO accomplished the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine, marking a significant advancement in India’s endeavor to launch the mission.
“ISRO has reached a significant milestone in the human rating process of its CE20 cryogenic engine, which propels the cryogenic stage of the human-rated LVM3 launch vehicle for Gaganyaan missions. The final round of ground qualification tests concluded on February 13, 2024.”
ISRO stated that the final test, conducted at the High Altitude Test Facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, was the seventh in a series of vacuum ignition tests aimed at replicating flight conditions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a standing ovation to the four astronauts, said, “”We are witnessing another historic journey at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. India meets its four Gaganyaan astronauts. These are not just four names, but forces that will take the aspirations of 140 crore Indians to space.”
Reviewing the progress of gaganyaan mission Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, also interacted with ISRO’s humanoid robot Byomitra, this humanoid will be the first launch on the Gaganyaan mission before the astronauts step into the crew capsule.
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