ISRO’s Gaganyaan Mission: PM Modi announces names of 4 astronauts.

GNS ONLINE NEWS PORTAL

SHYAM SOOD

India’s first human space flight program will carry a crew of astronauts into low Earth orbit.

RAJOURI, FEBRUARY 28:–Extensive preparations are underway at various ISRO centres for the India’s first human space flight program Gaganyaan Mission.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reviewed the progress of Gaganyaaomission and bestowed ‘astronaut wings’ to the astronaut-designated at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
While reviewing progress of Gaganyaan Mission Prime Minister said: “India’s success in the space sector is sowing the seeds of scientific temperament in the country’s young generation,”.
The four astronauts, who are Indian Air Force Officers and would be the first Indians to go to space are Prashanth Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan, and Shubhanshu Shukla and are undergoing rigorous training for India’s first human space flight mission.
The Prime Minister announced the names of these astronauts.

ISRO said that Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
ISRO successfully completed the acceptance tests of the flight engine identified for the first unmanned Gaganyaan (G1) mission.
Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair was born in Thiruvazhiyad, Kerala on 26 Aug 1976. He is alumnus of NDA and recipient of Sword of Honour at Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on 19 Dec 1998 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Cat A Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approximately 3000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown a variety of aircraft (ac) including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier, An-32, etc. He is also the alumnus of United States Staff College and a DS at DSSC, Wellington and FIS, Tambaram and has commanded a premier fighter Su-30 Sqn.
Group Captain Ajit Krishnan was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 19 Apr 1982. He is an alumnus of NDA and recipient of the President’s Gold Medal and Sword of Honour at Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on 21 Jun 2003 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 2900 hrs of flying experience. He has flown a variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-21, Mig-29, Jaguar, Dornier, An-32 etc. He is also an alumnus of DSSC, Wellington.
Group Captain Angad Pratap was born in Prayagraj on 17 Jul 1982. He is an alumnus of NDA and was commissioned on 18 Dec 2004 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 2000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown a variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc.
Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla was born in Lucknow, UP on 10 Oct 1985. He is an alumnus of NDA and was commissioned on 17 Jun 2006 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Fighter Combat Leader and a Test Pilot with approximately 2000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown a variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc.