Group captain Shubhanshu Shukla, one of the astronauts selected for Gaganyaan mission, will be travelling to International Space Station soon.
It's a dream for astronauts to take an interstellar travel and visit International Space Station (ISS). However, only few become fortunate to achieve that feat. The recent announcements by NASA and ISRO have brought huge excitement as group captain Shubhanshu Shukla will become the first Indian (after Indian origin Sunita Williams) to be part of space station mission. In this article, we will explore captain’s journey from air force to space force.
In June 2023, India had signed a deal with the United States for a joint ISRO-NASA venture to the ISS. As per the National Mission Assignment Board, ISRO's should be eligible for sending prime and backup mission pilots with Axiom-4, an US-based space mission. The spaceflight will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using Falcon 9. It's the 4th private astronaut mission to the ISS.
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For this mission, Group Captains Shubhanshu Shukla and Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair will be serving as prime and 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 confirmed in a statement.
Early Life & Education: Shukla was born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Nicknamed as Gunjan, group captain Shukla is the youngest of the three siblings. He was the first in the family to join Indian defense sector. Later, he completed his graduation from the National Defence Academy (NDA). On June 17, 2006, Shukla joined the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Personal Life: Group captain Shubhanshu is married to a dentist from Jankipuram. The couple has a four-year-old son.
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A Trend of Not Informing Family: Shubhanshu's older sister Suchi Shukla recently shared, her brother's passion for defense sector grew since Kargil war when he was only 14 years old. His passion to serve India's defense sector led to him apply for the National Defence Academy (NDA) examination even without informing parents. Meanwhile, this was repeated again while enrolling for Gaganyaan Mission. Shukla didn't inform his family before applying for India's first crewed space mission.
Unmatched Experience: Shukla participated in Fighter Combat Leader course from the prestigious Tactics and Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) school. With an overall flying experience of 2000 hrs, he has been test pilot for multiple missions. His flying experience include Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, BAe Hawk, Domnier, and An-32.
India’s first-ever human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan is scheduled for launch in 2025. This will be a three-day crewed mission to orbit 400 km above the Earth surface.
On February 27, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Shubhanshu Shukla's name, along with three other astronauts (Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, Prasanth Nair) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
#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.
— DD India (@DDIndialive) August 2, 2024
⏩The project is accomplished through an optimal strategy by… pic.twitter.com/edpo1cVvKd
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Already, the selected astronauts have finished basic spaceflight training in Russia. Currently they are undergoing advanced training at Astronaut Training Facility (ATF) of ISRO in Bengaluru.
“Towards the goal of mounting a joint ISRO-NASA effort, the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of ISRO has entered into a Space Flight Agreement (SFA) with NASA-identified service provider M/s Axiom Space Inc., USA for its upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the ISS,” ISRO said.
