नवीनतम
PM Modi unveils Gaganyaan Astronauts
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM [Maha Media]: India on Tuesday introduced four crew members for its maiden 'Gaganyaan' space voyage, as it aims to become the world's fourth country to send a crewed mission into space just months after a historic landing on the south pole of the moon.
Gaganyaan, or "sky craft" in Hindi, is the first mission of its kind for India and will cost about 90.23 billion rupees ($1.1 billion). It involves the launch of a habitable space capsule over the next year to an orbit of 400 km (250 miles) and its return via a landing in the Indian Ocean. Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded the four crew members, all of them air force officers, "astronaut wings" at a space centre in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala state on Tuesday, in their first public appearance after months of rigorous training.
Addressing the audience at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba near here, the Prime Minister introduced to the nation the esteemed astronauts: Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap, Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.
Bestowing them with the prestigious 'astronaut wings,' Modi hailed these astronauts as ''four forces'' representing the aspirations of India's 1.4 billion people.
He emphasised the significance of this mission, noting that after four decades, an Indian is poised to venture into space.
''This time around, the countdown, the timing, and even the rocket would be ours,'' Modi declared.
Reflecting on the symbolic importance of the astronauts' mission, PM Modi described them as not merely individuals but as four 'Shakti' carrying the hopes and dreams of 140 crore Indians into space.
The four officers are Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap and Shubhanshu Shukla, a government statement said. It was not clear if all four astronauts would be on board the mission.
Gaganyaan is a "historic" achievement for India, Modi said on X and in a statement, coming four decades after air force officer, Rakesh Sharma, became the first Indian to travel to space - with a Soviet mission. "Time is ours, countdown is ours and so is the rocket," Modi told space scientists.
Only the United States, Russia, and China have sent their own crewed missions into space. Astronauts from more than three dozen other countries have made space trips aboard either U.S. or Russian missions.
