The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has chosen the youngest of its astronaut-designates as the prime astronaut to fly on the upcoming Indo-US mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The prime astronaut will be Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla who recently got promoted.
A 'prime astronaut' is one who is chosen to fly, but a backup astronaut is always kept, in case at the last minute due to any mishap a swap needs to be undertaken.
He was born in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow on October 10, 1985. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned on June 17, 2006 in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
He is a Fighter Combat Leader and a test pilot with approximately 2,000 hours of flying experience. He has flown a variety of aircraft including Sukhoi-30MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32, among others.
The back-up astronaut will be Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, the oldest of the astronaut-designates. He was born in Kerala's Thiruvazhiyad on August 26, 1976. He is also an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and a recipient of the Sword of Honour at the Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on December 19, 1998 in the fighter stream of the IAF.
Group Captain Nair is a Category-A flying Instructor – the highest that a pilot can achieve, and a test pilot with approximately 3,000 hours of flying experience. He has also flown several aircraft including Sukhoi-30MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier and An-32.
He is an alumnus of the United States Staff College and a Directing Staff at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the Flying Instructors School, Tambaram. He has commanded a Sukhoi-30MKI squadron.
Till date, India has had only one cosmonaut or astronaut in space – Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew on an Indo-Soviet mission in 1984.
Experts said ISRO has rightly chosen the youngest of the four designated astronauts as the prime candidate since the Gaganyaan programme is a long-term mission and having a young astronaut helps to fulfil that long-term vision. India seeks to send a human to the Moon by 2040.
"Towards the goal of mounting a joint ISRO-NASA effort, the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of ISRO has entered into a Space Flight Agreement (SFA) with NASA-identified service provider Axiom Space Inc., USA for its upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the ISS. A National Mission Assignment Board has recommended two Gaganyatris as prime and backup mission pilot for this mission," ISRO said in a statement.
The astronauts will be finally approved to fly to the ISS by the multilateral crew operations panel (MCOP). The Gaganyatris will begin training for the mission starting this week. During the mission, they will undertake scientific research and technology demonstration experiments on board the ISS as well as engage in space outreach activities.
The experiences gained during this mission will be beneficial for the Indian Human Space Programme. It will also strengthen human space flight cooperation between ISRO and NASA.
This Indo-US flight was initiated after both nations signed a joint statement during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US in June 2023.