Shubhanshu Shukla of IAF selected as primary Gaganyatri for ISS mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced the names of the two Indian gaganyatri (astronauts) for the forthcoming joint India -United States of America (USA) mission to the International Space Station(ISS). According to the ISRO, the National Mission Assignment Board has selected Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as the prime gaganyatri and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair as the backup gaganyatri.

Rakesh Sharma was the first and only Indian to go to space. On 3 April 1984, he travelled to space onboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11. 

Humans who travel in space are called astronauts. The Chinese call them Taikonauts, Russians call them Cosmonauts and Indians Gaganyatri.

Axiom-4 mission to the ISS

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States of America (USA) in June 2023, a joint ISRO-NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to the ISS was agreed upon. 

• NASA is the national space agency of the USA government.
• To operationalise the 2023 agreement, the Human Space Flight Center of the ISRO signed a Space Flight Agreement (SFA) with Axiom Space Inc., USA, for its upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the ISS. Axiom Company is a NASA-identified service provider which provides human space flight services to NASA for the space flight to the ISS..
• According to ISRO, the training of both the gaganyatri will commence in the first week of August 2024.
• Only one Indian will go to the ISS, and he will conduct various scientific experiments on board the ISS and engage in space outreach activities.

About the Gaganyatri and Gaganyaan Mission of India 

ISRO conceived the Gaganyaan Mission in 2007, which involved sending Indians to space for a three-day mission and successfully bringing them back. 

• The project was launched in 2018 with a budget of Rs 10,000 crore. 
• Four Indian Air Force pilots were selected for the mission, and they underwent training in Russia. 

• An astronaut training facility has been set up by ISRO in Bengaluru for this purpose.
• Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan and Angad Pratap are the four selected gagyanyatri.
• These four gaganyatri were awarded the Antriksh Yatri Pankh in February at the ISROs Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. 
• These pilots are from the Air Force Test Pilot School, which is part of the Bengaluru-based Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE).

Human Space Flight 

• At present, only three countries- Russia, China and the United States of America have the capability to launch manned space missions.
• Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union was the first human to go to space. He went to space on board the Soviet Vostok Rocket on  12 April 1961.
• Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union was the first woman to go to space on June 16, 1963, aboard the Vostok 6 rocket.
• Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian to have gone into space. On 3 April 1984, he participated in the Soviet mission aboard Soyuz T-11. 

International Space Station (ISS)

• Space Station is a type of spacecraft which is in space orbiting the earth and where astronauts can stay for a long period of time for scientific research purposes.
• At present, two fully functional manned space stations orbit Earth: the International Space Station and the Chinese Tiangong Space Station.
• The International Space Station was launched in 1998. It is a cooperative project of Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada, and Japan.
• Russia has announced that it will withdraw from the International Space Station Project by the end of 2024.
• Astronauts use the ISS, which is some 400km (250 miles) above Earth, to conduct a range of different research projects.

About Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) 

It was set up on 15 August 1969

Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Chairman: S.Somanath