Gaganyaan Crew

• The names of four astronauts, part of the country’s human space flight mission Gaganyaan, were revealed recently.
• The PM presented astronaut wings to the four selected for the space flight during an event at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
• The four astronaut-designates selected for the Gaganyaan mission are–
  • Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.
• The astronauts chosen for the mission have been trained in technical knowledge as well as physical fitness to ensure they stay well during the mission.

ABOUT GAGANYAAN MISSION

• Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
• LVM3 rocket is identified as the launch vehicle for Gaganyaan mission.
  • It consists of solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage.
  • All systems in LVM3 launch vehicle are re-configured to meet human rating requirements and christened Human Rated LVM3.
• The Gaganyaan mission is the most expensive scientific mission ever undertaken by India and is going to cost about ₹ 10,000 crore.
• The mission is expected to help develop several game-changing technologies.