Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced names of India’s first ‘astronaut designates’—Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajith Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Prathap and Wing Commander Shubanshu Shukla, all Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilots—for Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight mission, at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here on Tuesday.
Also read: With a launch a month, ISRO has a packed calendar for 2024
The final crew for the mission will be picked from these four pilots who have been undergoing training in various aspects of space flight in India and abroad. Shortlisted through a rigorous selection process, they attended training sessions in Russia to begin with, and later at the Astronaut Training Facility at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru.
The Prime Minister also decorated the four pilots with ‘wings’ for the Gaganyaan Mission at the VSSC in the presence of Arif Mohammed Khan, Governor Kerala; Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister; V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs; and S Somanath, Chairman , ISRO.
Earlier, the ISRO Chairman took the Prime Minister around a display of equipment related to the Gagayaan Mission, including Vyommitra, a humanoid robot developed by the ISRO for the programme.
During the visit, the Prime Minister also reviewed the progress of the Gaganyaan Mission and dedicated to the nation three technical facilities developed at a cost of around ₹18,000 crore. These included a Trisonic Wind Tunnel at the VSSC here; integration facilities for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at the Satish Dhavan Space Centre at Sriharikota; and the Semi-cryogenic Integrated Engine and Stage Test Facility (SIET) at the ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.