After keeping their identity under wraps for almost five years, India, on February 27, introduced before the world its four astronaut-designates for the country’s first manned space mission Gaganyaan, expected to take flight by 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed the names of Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan and Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla during his visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
While the Gaganyaan Mission will be a significant milestone in India’s space programme, the revelation of its designated crew adds excitement to the upcoming venture. All four astronaut-designates are Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter/test pilots with individual flying experiences of 2,000-3,000 hours. They will be the first Indians to lift off to space from Indian soil on an indigenous space vehicle.
The Gaganyaan Mission, which is expected to cost around Rs 10,000 crore, will take India into an elite club of nations to have successfully sent their astronauts to space using indigenous rockets. The United States, Russia and China are the only other countries to have achieved this feat.
The success of the Gaganyaan Mission will further elevate the status of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has had back-to-back achievements recently in the form of the Chandrayaan Mission to the moon and the Aditya L-1 Mission to study the sun.
The designated Gaganyaan crew has completed over a year-long training at the Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia’s Zvyozdny Gorodok city near Moscow. It is believed that eventually, three astronauts will embark on the space journey; the fourth will serve as a back-up.
The IAF had selected the four test pilots for the mission in 2019. ISRO set up an Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru for classroom, physical fitness, simulator and flight suit trainings. ISRO says the training modules cover academic courses, Gaganyaan flight systems, micro-gravity familiarisation through parabolic flights, aero-medical training, recovery and survival training, mastering of flight procedures and training on crew training simulators. Aeromedical training, periodical flying practice and yoga are also a part of the training.
Gaganyaan literally means ‘celestial vehicle’. The spacecraft will carry the IAF pilots to an orbit of 400 km on a three-day mission before bringing them back safely with a landing in the Indian seawaters. The endeavour will come four decades after the first Indian, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (retired), ventured into space in 1984 as part of a Soviet mission.
Group Captains Nair, Krishnan and Pratap, and Wing Commander Shukla carry on their shoulders the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians. Here’s a brief profile of them:
Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair
Born in Thiruvazhiyad in Kerala on August 26, 1976, Group Captain Nair is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and a recipient of the Sword of Honour at the Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on December 19, 1998 in the fighter stream of the IAF. He is a Cat A flying instructor and a test pilot with approximately 3,000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown various aircraft, including the frontline Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier and AN-32. He has also commandeered a fighter Su-30 squadron.
Group Captain Ajit Krishnan
Born in Chennai on April 19, 1982, Group Captain Krishnan too is an alumnus of the NDA and recipient of the President’s Gold Medal and Sword of Honour at the Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on June 21, 2003 in the fighter stream of the IAF. He is a flying instructor and a test pilot with some 2,900 hours of flying experience. He has flown a wide range of aircraft, including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-21, Mig-29, Jaguar, Dornier and AN-32.
Group Captain Angad Pratap
Born in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, on July 17, 1982, Group Captain Pratap is a product of the NDA and was commissioned on December 18, 2004 in the fighter stream of the IAF. As a flying instructor and test pilot, he has around 2,000 hours of flying experience. He has flown the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and AN-32.
Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla
Born on October 10, 1985 and from Lucknow, Wing Commander Shukla passed out of the NDA and was commissioned on June 17, 2006 in the fighter stream of the IAF. He is a fighter combat leader and a test pilot with around 2,000 hours of flying experience. He has flown the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and AN-32.
