Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed the names of four astronauts part of the country’s human space flight mission Gaganyaan at an event at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
The four astronaut-designates selected for the Gaganyaan mission are Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.
The mission aims to launch a three-member crew into a Low Earth Orbit and bring them back after three days.
The astronauts chosen for the mission have been trained in technical knowledge as well as physical fitness to ensure they stay well during the mission.
“The country has come to know about the four Gaganyaan passengers. These are not just four names or four people. These are four powers who will take the aspirations of 140 crore Indians to space,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. “Forty years later, an Indian is going to space. But this time, the timing, the countdown and the rocket belong to us,” he added. Earlier, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (retired) went to space in 1984 as part of a Soviet mission.
The Prime Minister said that the Gaganyaan mission will take our space sector to new heights.
