Four Astronaut-Elects Chosen For ISRO’s Gaganyaan Mission Set To Enter The Last leg Of Training In Russia

In a boost for the nation's flagship Gaganyaan space programme, the four Indian astronaut-elects who are undergoing crucial training in Russia are now set to enter the last leg of the training, reports Times of India.

Glavkosmos, which has an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s Human Spaceflight Centre (HSFC) has confirmed that the four astronaut-elects who are being trained by it shall return to India by the end of March 2021.

The four men, all of whom are Indian Air Force (IAF)'s test pilots, have already completed training on crew actions in case of an abnormal descent module landing in the forest and marshy areas in winter (February 2020), on the water surface (June 2020), and in the steppe in summer (July 2020).

They have also completed training in short-term weightlessness mode on board the Il-76MDK laboratory aircraft (June 2020). In addition to these, the men have also been trained to lift aboard a helicopter while evacuating from the descent module landing point (July 2020).

Once the four men return from Russia, they will also likely receive more training in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune.