Gaganyaan Mission: On 27 February Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the name of the astronauts who were choose for Gaganyaan mission. They are now under training for the Mission of Gaganyaan. The name of the astronauts are Group Captain P Balakrishna Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander S Shukla.
PM Narendra Modi revealed their name at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) at Thumba, Kerala.
By addressing them PM Modi said, “They are not just four names or human beings. They are the four powers of aspirations who are going to take 140 crore Indians to space. After 40 years, an Indian who are going to space. This time, the time is ours and the countdown is also hours and the rocket is also ours.”
He also said, “Today I am very happy I got the opportunity to meet these astronauts and talking with them and present them in front of the country. I want to congratulate to all the astronauts on behalf of the entire country. You all the Pride of India.”
He added, “Today your name has also been added to the success of 21st century India. Today you all are the trust, courage, discipline, of India.”
PM Modi, currently in Kerala for a quick visit, went to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. There, he checked how the Gaganyaan Mission is going. Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, union minister Muraleedharan, and ISRO chairman S Somanath were with him.
About Gaganyaan Mission Astronauts P Balakrishna Nair
P Balakrishna Nair is group captain. He was in a trained in Russia for the human space flight mission. P Balakrishna Nair is the Resident of Nenmara town of Kerala. He joined in Airforce in the year of 1999 after completing his engineering degree at NSS College. P Balakrishna Nair is a Sukhoi fighter group captain. He was also the first rank holder at the United State Air Force Command and staff college in Alabama.
About Gaganyaan Mission Astronauts Ajit Krishnan
Ajit Krishnan is also an astronauts among the four astronauts. He also trained in Russia with them for the Gaganyaan Mission.
About Astronauts Angad Prathap
Group captain Angad Prathap has also trained with other three astronauts for the Gagan Yaan Mission. They trained in Russia for 13 months as per reports of ISRO.
About Astronauts Shubhanshu Shukla
Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla has also received training at Moscow’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center to learn about different aspects of space movement.
About Gaganyaan Mission
India’s Gaganyaan mission is the country’s first manned space mission which is scheduled for launch between 2024 and 2025. The goal is to send a crew of three people into a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission and safely bring them back to Earth by landing in the Indian sea waters.
ISRO, India’s space agency, stated that the mission is being accomplished through a well-planned strategy that combines the expertise of ISRO, Indian industry, academic institutions, and research centers, along with advanced technologies from international agencies.
Recently, ISRO achieved a significant milestone by successfully completing the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine. This engine powers the cryogenic stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle, which is designed for human-rated missions like Gaganyaan.
The final round of ground qualification tests for the CE20 cryogenic engine was completed on February 13, 2024. These tests, conducted at the High Altitude Test Facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, simulated flight conditions to ensure the engine’s reliability and safety for human spaceflight.
