Meet the 4 astronauts who will be on Mission Gaganyaan

The four astronaut elects are -- Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap, Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced the names of four astronauts who are undergoing training for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Gaganyaan, India’s first human spaceflight mission.

The four astronauts are — Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Angad Pratap, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. They are all test pilots from Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bengaluru.

They were shortlisted for final test pilots four years ago by ISRO and the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) after several selection rounds.

Take a look at the four astronaut elects:

1.Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair: Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair was born in Thiruvazhiyad, Kerala on 26 Aug 1976.

He is an alumni of NDA and recipient of Sword of Honour at Air Force Academy and United States Staff College and a DS at DSSC, Wellington and FIS, Tambaram

He was commissioned on 19 Dec 1998 in the fighter stream of IAF.

He is a Cat A Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 3000 hrs of flying experience.

He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier, An-32, etc.

2.Group Captain Ajit Krishnan: Ajit Krishnan was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 19 Apr 1982.

He is an alumni of NDA and recipient of President’s Gold Medal and Sword of Honour at Air Force Academy and DSSC, Wellington.

He was commissioned on 21 Jun 2003 in the fighter stream of IAF.

He is a Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 2900 hrs of flying experience.

He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-21, Mig-29, Jaguar, Dornier, An-32 etc.

3.Group Captain Angad Pratap: Angad Pratap was born in Prayagraj on 17 Jul 1982. He is an alumni of NDA and was commissioned on 18 Dec 2004 in the fighter stream of IAF.

He is a Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 2000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc.

4.Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla: Shubhanshu Shukla was born in Lucknow, UP on 10 Oct 1985.

He is an alumni of NDA and was commissioned on 17 Jun 2006 in the fighter stream of IAF.

He is a Fighter Combat Leader and a Test Pilot with approx 2000 hrs of flying experience.

He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc.

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