India unveiled its four astronaut-designates for Gaganyaan, the nation's first human space mission, to the public on february 27, after withholding their identities for over five years. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2025. During his visit to the vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, prime minister Narendra Modi disclosed the identities of Wing commander Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captains prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, and Angad Pratap.
 
The announcement of the Gaganyaan Mission's assigned crew heightens anticipation for the next space project, even though it will mark a key milestone in India's space programme. The four indian Air Force (IAF) fighter/test pilots who have been designated as astronauts have logged between 2,000 and 3,000 hours of flight time between them. They will be the first indians to launch an indigenous spacecraft from indian territory into space.
 
With the completion of the Gaganyaan Mission, which is projected to cost about Rs 10,000 crore, india will join a select group of countries that have successfully launched people into space using domestic rocketry. The only other nations to do this are China, Russia, and the United States.
 
The indian space research organisation (ISRO), which has lately achieved back-to-back successes with the Chandrayaan Mission to the moon and the Aditya L-1 Mission to study the solar, will see its stature further elevated with the success of the Gaganyaan Mission.
 
After more than a year of training at the Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Centre in Zvyozdny Gorodok, outside Moscow, Russia, the chosen Gaganyaan crew has finished their training. Three astronauts are expected to travel into space at some point, with a fourth acting as a backup.
 
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G GOWTHAM

28/02/2024 10:40 AM