Who Are The Four Astronauts Selected For Gaganyaan Mission?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the names of the four astronauts for India’s ambitious maiden human spaceflight mission Gaganyaan scheduled for next year.

The four astronaut-designates -- Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla are fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force.

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

PM Modi also handed the 'astronaut wings' to the astronaut-designates during his visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre(VSSC) at Thumba, near Thiruvananthapuram. They are currently undergoing rigorous training at various facilities in the country. They also underwent training for 13 months in Russia.

The IAF pilots aged between 39-48 years have a flying experience in the range of nearly 2,000-3,000 hours, according to IAF officials. Two of them are recipients of the prestigious 'Sword of Honour'.

Group Captain Nair was born in Kerala in 1976 and is alumnus of the NDA, and a recipient of the 'Sword of Honour' -- an honour given to the best all-round cadet -- at the Air Force Academy, a spokesperson of the Indian Air Force told news agency PTI.

He was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF in December 1998.

"A Cat A flying instructor and a test pilot with approximately 3,000 hrs of flying experience, he has flown a variety of aircraft, including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier and An-32," the official said.

Group Captain Nair is also an alumnus of the United States Staff College and a DS at DSSC, Wellington and FIS, Tambaram, the spokesperson said, adding he has commanded a premier fighter Su-30 Sqadron.

Group Captain Krishnan, also an alumnus of the NDA, was born in Chennai in 1982. He is a recipient of the President's Gold Medal and the 'Sword of Honour' at Air Force Academy.

"He was commissioned in June 2003 in the fighter stream of the IAF. A flying instructor and a test pilot with nearly 2,900 hrs of flying experience, he has flown a variety of aircraft, including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-21, Mig-29, Jaguar, Dornier and An-32," the spokesperson said, adding, he is also an alumnus of DSSC, Wellington.

Group Captain Pratap was born in Prayagraj in 1982. Also an alumnus of the NDA, he was commissioned in December 2004 in the fighter stream of the IAF.

He is a flying instructor and a test pilot with approximately 2,000 hours of flying experience and has flown Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and An-32, among other aircraft, the spokesperson added.

Wing Commander Shukla was born in Lucknow in 1985 and an alumnus of the NDA who was commissioned in June 2006 in the fighter stream of the IAF.

A fighter combat leader and a test pilot with nearly 2,000 hours of flying experience, he has flown Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and An-32, among other aircraft.

PM Modi hailed the astronauts as "four forces" representing the aspirations of India's 140 crore people. He also emphasised the significance of the country’s first crewed space mission, noting that after four decades, an Indian is poised to venture into space.

(With PTI inputs)