One of the four Indian Air Force astronauts training for Gaganyaan will soon be sent to NASA so that he can get training to go to the space station. This was told by Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh in the Lok Sabha. The minister said that ISRO is constantly preparing for a joint mission with NASA.
ISRO is looking into how to send a Gaganyaatri to the International Space Station (ISS). This will be a joint mission of NASA and ISRO. Dr. Jitendra Singh said that one of the four Gaganyaatris being trained for Gaganyaan will take training at NASA. Then they will go to the space station.
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NASA has chosen the private company AXIOM Space to send the astronauts to the space station. The Indian astronaut will reach the space station in its spacecraft. ISRO has signed a deal with Axiom Space in the presence of NASA for this. This will be the Axiom-4 mission. This will be a private mission to the International Space Station.
Indian astronaut will be sent to the space station in August
This mission will probably be launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August 2024 or later. Currently, four astronauts of Gaganyaan are being trained at ISRO Astronaut Training Facility (ATF). Earlier, these astronauts have completed their basic training in Russia. Two out of three semesters of astronaut training have been completed.
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Know who are those astronauts, one of whom will go to the ISS
Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair
Born on 26 August 1976 in Thiruvazhiyad, Kerala. Completed training at NDA. Has received the Sword of Honor from the Air Force Academy. On 19 December 1998, he was included in the Air Force’s fighter jet program. Was made a fighter pilot. He is a CAT-A class flying instructor and test pilot. Has about 3000 hours of flying experience.
Prashant Nair has flown aircraft like Su-30MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier, AN-32 etc. He is also an alumnus of United States Staff College, DSSC, Wellington and FIS, Tambaram. He has also been the Commandant of Sukhoi-30 Squadron.
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Group Captain Ajit Krishnan
Born on 19 April 1982 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Ajith completed his army training from NDA. He has received the Gold Medal from the President and the Sword of Honor from the Air Force Academy. On 21 June 2003, he was inducted into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force. He has 2900 hours of experience as a flying instructor and test pilot. Ajith has flown aircraft like Su-30MKI, MiG-21, Mig-21 Bison, Mig-19, Jaguar, Dornier, N-32. He is an alumnus of DSSC, Wellington.
Group Captain Angad Pratap
Born on 17 July 1982 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, Angad Pratap received his military training at NDA. He was inducted into the fighter stream of the Air Force on 18 December 2004. He has nearly 2000 hours of experience as a flying instructor and test pilot. Angad has flown aircraft and fighter jets like Sukhoi-30MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and N-32.
Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla
Born on 10 October 1985 in Lucknow, Shubhanshu received his military training at NDA. He was inducted into the fighter stream of the Air Force on 17 June 2006. He is a fighter combat leader and a test pilot. He has 2000 hours of flying experience. He has flown aircraft and fighter jets like Sukhoi-30MKI, Mig-21, Mig-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, N-32.