NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that the four astronauts selected for Gaganyaan, India’s first human space flight mission, have been kept out of the public glare to ensure that there were no distractions. Responding to a question from Opposition on why these astronauts were kept away from public eyes, the government said the astronauts were undergoing certain acclimatisation and training programmes.
The four astronauts shortlisted for the Gaganyaan mission are Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. They are test pilots with the Indian Air Force (IAF) who work at the Bengaluru-based Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE). The names were announced during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba in Kerala in February last year. The four astronauts were trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia, where Rakesh Sharma underwent training. Sharma is the first Indian to travel to space in 1984.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, “It was a view that giving too much exposure to the media and the public might cause a distraction which may not be in the compatible interest of all.” The minister also said that one of the astronauts, Group Captain Shukla, would accompany astronauts from other countries on their journey to the International Space Station (ISS).