Two Indian astronauts will undergo training at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Johnson Space Center in the American State of Texas beginning in August, said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
President Joe Biden announced plans to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2023 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US. One of the two astronauts, who earlier received basic training at Moscow’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, would go on the India-US mission to the ISS. American private firms SpaceX and Axiom are expected to execute the mission by the end of 2024 and help Indian astronauts gain the necessary expertise.
Former ISRO chairman K Sivan said the mission will expose Indian astronauts to the new technology. “This is an extremely important step towards the Gaganyaan programme,” he said, referring to the plan to send three astronauts to an orbit of 400 km for a short-duration mission on board an Indian launch vehicle.
ISRO is developing new technologies in engineering and human-centric systems. The Astronaut Training Centre in Bengaluru offers training modules covering academic courses, Gaganyaan flight systems, micro-gravity familiarisation through parabolic flights, aero-medical training, recovery and survival training, mastering of flight procedures, and training on crew training simulators. Periodical flying practice and yoga are also included as part of the training, ISRO said.
The Gaganyaan mission is expected to happen by 2026. Group Captains Prashanth Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla have been selected for it.
Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma spent eight days in space aboard the Salyut 7 space station in 1984 as part of a collaboration between India and the Soviet Union.
