India has revealed the names of four people who are shortlisted to pilot the country’s first manned spaceflight. The mission is planned for next year.
The four Indian air force pilots who are on the shortlist to be part of the mission are Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.
The Gaganyaan mission will send astronauts into an orbit of 400km above Earth and will last for three days.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said a robotic mission was planned this year with a manned mission scheduled for next year.
Last year Isro conducted a test to prove that humans would be able to escape the rocket in case of malfunction.
The BBC quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as saying: ‘These are not just four names or four people. They are four powers who will carry the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians to space. I congratulate and wish them all the best.’
The four men have reportedly received 13 months training in Russia, and will now continue their preparation back in their home country.
Indians have been into space as part of other countries’ missions. Rakesh Sharma travelled into space with a Soviet craft in the 1980s.
If India is successful in putting a human into space it will become only the fourth country to do so, after the US, Soviet Union/Russia, and China.
[Photo: Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) official handout]