India selects ‘prime astronaut’ for Indo-US mission to space station
PTC News Desk: The youngest astronaut-designate nominated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will be the lead astronaut on the future Indo-US mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who was recently promoted, will be the primary astronaut.
The person selected to fly is called the “prime astronaut,” but a backup astronaut is always on hand in case an emergency arises and a swap needs to be made at the last minute. He was born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He graduated from the National Defence Academy and joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) on June 17, 2006, as a fighter stream member.
In addition to being a test pilot, he has been a Fighter Combat Leader for over 2,000 hours. Among the many aircraft he has flown are the Sukhoi-30MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32.
The oldest astronaut-designate, Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, will serve as the backup astronaut. On August 26, 1976, in Thiruvazhiyad, Kerala, he was born. In addition, he received the Sword of Honour from the Air Force Academy and graduated from the National Defence Academy. On December 19, 1998, he received his commission in the Indian Air Force’s fighter stream.
Group Captain Nair is a test pilot with around 3,000 hours of flying experience and a Category-A flight instructor, the highest designation a pilot may have. Additionally, he has flown a number of aircraft, including the An-32, Hawk, Dornier, MiG-21, and Sukhoi-30MKI.
He is a Directing Staff member of the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington and the Flying Instructors School in Tambaram. He is also an alumnus of the United States Staff College. He has led a squadron of Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft.
Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian astronaut or cosmonaut in space to date; he participated in an Indo-Soviet mission in 1984.
Experts added that since the Gaganyaan programme is a long-term mission and having a youthful astronaut helps to realize that long-term ambition, ISRO has correctly selected the youngest of the four designated astronauts as the top contender. By 2040, India hopes to send a person to the moon.
“The Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of ISRO has signed a Space Flight Agreement (SFA) with NASA-designated service provider Axiom Space Inc., USA for its planned Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with the aim of assembling a collaborative ISRO-NASA effort. For this mission, two Gaganyatris have been proposed as the primary and backup mission pilots by the National Mission Assignment Board,” an ISRO release stated.
The multilateral crew operations panel (MCOP) will ultimately grant the astronauts permission to travel to the International Space Station. Starting this week, the Gaganyatris will commence their mission-related training. They will conduct technology demonstration experiments and scientific research on board the International Space Station (ISS) during the mission, in addition to space outreach initiatives.
The Indian Human Space Programme will benefit from the experiences this mission provides. Additionally, it will improve ISRO and NASA’s cooperation in human space flight.
Following the signing of a joint statement by both countries during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US in June 2023, this Indo-US flight was launched.