Gaganyaan astronauts keep out of limelight to avoid distractions: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, on Wednesday said that the four astronauts selected for Gaganyaan have been kept out of the public glare to ensure that there were no distractions, as they were undergoing certain acclimatisation and training programmes.

Singh was responding to a question on these astronauts were kept away from the public eyes during the Question Hour.

“It was a view that giving too much exposure to the media and the public might cause a distraction which may not be in the compatible interest of all,” he said.

Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan and Shubanshu Shukla have been selected for India's first human space flight mission.

The minister also said that one of the astronauts, Shukla, would accompany astronauts from other countries on their journey to the International Space Station (ISS).

"The chosen one was Wing Commander Shukla, who is now Group Captain Shukla. That is how his name came to be little more widely known," Singh said.

Chandrayaan-5 Mission accords approval

The Centre has recently accorded approval for the ambitious Chandrayaan-5 mission to study the Moon, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said on March 17.

“Unlike the Chandrayaan-3 mission which carried the 25-kg rover 'Prayagyaan', the Chandrayaan-5 mission would carry a 250 kg rover to study the Moon's surface,” he said.

The Chandrayaan mission consists of studying the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-1 successfully launched in 2008 took chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. The Chandrayaan-2 mission (2019) was 98 per cent success but just two per cent of the Mission could not be achieved in the final stages.

SpaDeX accomplished

ISRO has said that it has accomplished de-docking of the SpaDeX satellites, clearing the way for future missions, such as exploring the moon, human spaceflight and building its own space station.

Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences, and Science and Technology Jitendra Singh announced the successful de-docking of satellites in a post on 'X' on March 14.

"SpaDeX satellites accomplished the unbelievable de-docking. This paves the way for smooth conduct of ambitious future missions including the Bharatiya Antriksha Station, Chandrayaan 4 & Gaganyaan," he said.

"Congrats team ISRO. And heartening for every Indian," he said.