The Indian Government is looking forward to a new initiative as Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently revealed the names of four astronauts who have been selected for the upcoming Gaganyaan Mission. The selected astronauts have been undergoing training for the special mission for the last few years as the Gaganyaan mission was announced in 2018.
The forthcoming Gaganyaan Mission will be India’s first human space flight program and the extensive preparations are going on at several ISRO centers. It is anticipated that the Gaganyaan project will be launched between 2024-25.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi recently visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre near the Kerala state capital where announced the names of the four astronauts for the Gaganyaan Mission and also inaugurated three important space infrastructure projects of around 1,800 crores.
Astronauts for Gaganyaan Mission
On Tuesday, 27 February 2024, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba near Kerala and there he addressed the gathering where he announced the names of the four astronauts for the indigenous Gaganyaan mission that will send Indian astronauts to space.
The four astronauts designated for the Gaganyaan mission of IAF (Indian Air Force) are group captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, group captain Angad Pratap, group captain Ajit Krisnnan, and wing commander Subahasnhu Shukla. While announcing the names of the four astronauts, PM Modi presented astronaut wings to all four astronauts.
The four selected astronauts for the Gaganyaan mission have been training for the last five years in Indian and Russian facilities. PM Narendra Modi said that the astronauts’ designates are not just four names or identities but they represent the space aspirations of 1.4 billion people of the country and after over 40 years, Indians will be traveling to space again, and this time with the launchpad rocket.
5 Interesting facts about Gaganyaan Mission
Here are some details and interesting facts about the much-awaited Gaganyaan Mission:
- The Gaganyaan mission is an Indian-crewed orbital spacecraft which is India’s first human spaceflight project that aims to demonstrate ISRO’s human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members on an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission.
- The Gaganyaan mission will be the first Indian mission that will launch its manned mission to space and will make it the country’s fourth in line to have sent a human to space. The spacecraft which is developed by the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) consists of a service module and a crew module which is collectively known as the Orbital Module.
- ISRO will be using its LVM3 rocket for the Gaganyaan Mission which was previously called as GSLV-MkIII. It is the Indian space agency’s most powerful launch vehicle which has flown seven times without any failure as the rocket consists of liquid stage, solid stage, and cryogenic stage.
- As per the former ISRO chief, G. Madhavan, the Gaganyaan mission will enable ISRO to achieve higher levels of reliability in launch and satellite technology which will also employ 15,000 people, and out of them some were from ISRO.
- The capsule will rotate around the Earth for every 90 minutes and the astronauts will be able to see sunrise and sunset. Also, with the ability to hold one oxygen cylinder, the suit will allow the astronaut to breathe in space for 60 minutes and will be able to see India from space every 24 hours.