FAB FOUR: Meet ISRO astronaut designates for India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission

Gaganyaan Update: India names astronauts for maiden space flight of the Gaganyaan has unveiled four Air Force pilots who have been shortlisted to travel on the country’s maiden space flight scheduled for next year. The Gaganyaan mission aims to send three astronauts to an orbit of 400km and bring them back after three days. India’s space agency Isro has been carrying out a number of tests to prepare for the flight. In October, a key test demonstrated that the crew could safely escape the rocket in case it malfunctioned. After its success, Isro said a test flight would take a robot into space in 2024, before astronauts are sent into space in 2025. At a function at the Isro centre in the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum) on Tuesday, the four astronaut-designates were described as “dreamers, adventurers and valiant men preparing to go into space“. The officers, chosen from the Indian Air Force, were introduced as Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Isro chief S Somanath pinned badges with golden wings onto their shirts and Mr Modi described them as “India’s pride“. #ISRO #Gaganyaan