PM Modi Introduces Gaganyaan Four Astronauts

India is ready to make history with its first crewed space mission, Gaganyaan, scheduled to launch by 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the names of the four astronauts who will fly to a low earth orbit as part of this ambitious project.

Meet the Gaganyaan crew

The four astronauts are Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. They are all test pilots from the Indian Air Force (IAF) with extensive experience in flying various aircraft. They have been undergoing rigorous training for the mission at the ISRO’s astronaut training facility in Bengaluru and the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia .

The Prime Minister bestowed them with the prestigious astronaut wings at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thumba, Kerala, on February 27, 2024. He described them as “four forces” who represent the aspirations and optimism of 1.4 billion Indians.

What is Gaganyaan?

Gaganyaan is India’s first human spaceflight programme that aims to demonstrate the country’s capability to send humans to space and bring them back safely. The mission will use ISRO’s most powerful launch vehicle, LVM3, which has been modified to meet human rating requirements.

The mission will consist of two phases: an unmanned test flight (Gaganyaan-1) and a manned flight (Gaganyaan-2). The test flight will check the technology readiness for the final mission and is expected to take off by the end of 2024. The manned flight will carry a three-member crew into a low earth orbit at an altitude of 400 km for a period of three days and then return them to Earth with a landing in Indian sea waters.

Gaganyaan will be a historic achievement for India, as it will make it the fourth country in the world to send humans to space after Russia, the US, and China. It will also open up new avenues for scientific research, exploration, and innovation in space.

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