Who is Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, picked for Indo-US mission to Space Station?
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has been selected as the prime pilot, while Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair will serve as the backup pilot.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Friday that Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has been chosen as the ‘prime Gaganyatri’ for the upcoming Indo-US mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
A National Mission Assignment Board has recommended two 'Gaganyatris' for this mission, designating one as the prime pilot and the other as the backup.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has been selected as the prime pilot, while Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair will serve as the backup pilot.
“The assigned crewmembers will be finally approved to fly to the International Space Station by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP). The recommended gaganyatris will commence their training for the mission from the first week of August 2024,” ISRO asserted in a statement.
Who is Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla?
- Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, graduated from the National Defence Academy. He joined the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on June 17, 2006.
- According to The Times of India report, Shubhanshu is married to a dentist from Jankipuram, and they have a four-year-old son. He is the first member of his family to join the defence forces.
- The TOI report quoted that Suchi Shukla, Shubhanshu's older sister, as saying that he was a 14-year-old high school student during the Kargil war. Two years later, he took an application form for the National Defence Academy (NDA) from a friend who decided not to apply and submitted it without telling his parents.
- Eighteen years later, now 38, Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla enrolled himself for the Gaganyaan Mission, India's first crewed space mission, without informing his family.
- A graduate of City Montessori School, Shubhanshu joined the Indian Air Force on June 17, 2006, in the fighter stream. He is a fighter combat leader and test pilot with approximately 2,000 hours of flight experience.
- On February 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Shubhanshu's name, along with three other astronauts, at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, for the Gaganyaan Mission. These four astronauts will travel to low-earth orbit as part of ISRO’s first crewed space mission.