Gaganyaan mission: After the success of Chandrayaan-3, ISRO is once again ready to create history in the month of August. Minister Jitendra Singh has given information about Gaganyaan mission and Gaganyatri in the Indian Parliament, after which the eyes of the whole world are on this mission.
Gaganyaan Mission update: Indian Space Agency (ISRO) is going to create history in the month of August. Space Minister Jitendra Singh has revealed about this. He told that a Gaganyatri of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will travel to the International Space Station (ISS). It will be a joint mission between ISRO, NASA and a private company, Axiom Space. ISRO has signed an agreement with Axiom Space for this mission. This mission can be launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August 2024.
Indian Gaganyaan will get training in NASA
This answer came on the Lok Sabha question of Trinamool Congress MLA Saugata Roy, in which he had asked about ‘Axiom-4 Mission’, astronauts and Gaganyaan mission. The minister said that the space agency and Axiom Space have signed an order for the Gaganyaan mission to the ISS, which is targeted to be launched before August 2024 from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
What is Gaganyaan Mission?
Gaganyaan is ISRO’s big mission, in which a crew of three members will be sent to space for three days. In the mission, they will be launched in an orbit of 400 km and landed in Indian sea waters. After the success of Chandrayaan and Aditya L-1, this mission will take ISRO to greater heights. Gaganyaan will be India’s first human mission.
How was the selection done for Gaganyaan mission?
A large number of pilots had applied to be a part of the mission. Of these, 12 completed the first level selection process in Bengaluru in September 2019. This selection was done by the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) under the Air Force. After this, several selection rounds were held and finally IAM and ISRO selected the final four. In June 2019, an agreement was signed between ISRO and the Russian Space Agency for the training of pilots.
After this, these four pilots were sent to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia for initial training in 2020. They trained there from February 2020 to March 2021. Since then, all four are being trained by several agencies and the armed forces. ISRO is working on equipping its Human Space Flight Center (HSFC) with various simulators for training. They continue to fly regularly with the IAF to stay fit.
Four pilots selected for Gaganyaan mission
The Gaganyaatri for the ISS mission will be one of the four Indian Air Force pilots who are being trained for the Gaganyaan mission. All four astronauts had trained in Russia. The minister said that currently Indian astronauts are training at ISRO’s astronaut training facility in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan mission.
Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair
He is a resident of Nenmara in Palakkad district of Kerala. He has trained for space flight mission in Russia. He is a graduate from NDA and was awarded the Sword of Honour at the Air Force Academy. He joined the Air Force as a commissioned officer on 19 December 1998. He is a Cat A category flying instructor and test pilot. He has more than 3 thousand hours of flying experience. He has experience of flying all types of aircraft including Sukhoi, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier, AN-32. He is a graduate of US Air Command and Staff College in Alabama, USA with first rank. He has also led a Sukhoi squadron. An elderly woman living in Nair’s neighbourhood told about his childhood that Prashant is a very good child… I have known him since he was four or five years old. I was sure that he would reach a good position. But this achievement is beyond my expectations. The MLA of Nenmara said that the enthusiasm of the people is beyond words. Prashant has now become the pride of not only Kerala but the entire country.
Group Captain Ajit Krishnan
Born on 19 April 1982 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has also been an NDA student and has been awarded the President’s Gold Medal and Sword of Honour at the Air Force Academy. He joined the fighter stream of the Air Force on 21 June 2003. Group Captain Ajit Krishnan has 2900 hours of flying experience. He is a flying instructor and test pilot. Krishnan also has experience of flying many aircraft like Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Dornier and AN-32. He has also been a student of Defense Services Staff College Wellington.
Group Captain Angad Pratap
Group Captain Angad Pratap was born on 17 July 1982 in Prayagraj. He is an alumnus of NDA and was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 18 December 2004. Like other Gaganveers, Group Captain Angad is also a flying instructor and test pilot. He has about 2000 hours of flying experience. Group Captain Angad Pratap has flown many types of aircraft like Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, AN-32.
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