Initial training completed for Gaganyaan Mission Astronauts in US

Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday announced that the Initial Phase of Training for Gaganyatris in US for the joint ISRO-NASA Mission to International Space Station (ISS) has culminated.

ISRO said towards the goal of accomplishing a joint ISRO-NASA effort to the ISS, the two Gaganyatris (Prime-Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Backup-Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair) assigned for Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4) commenced their training in the United States (USA) from the first week of August,2024.

The initial phase of training has been completed successfully by the Gaganyatris on November 28.

During this phase of training, the Gaganyatris have completed initial orientations for mission-related ground facility tours, initial overview of mission launch phases, SpaceX suit fit checks, and selected space food options.

Furthermore, the training also included familiarization sessions with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and various onboard systems of the ISS, including photography from space, daily operations routine, and communication protocols.

One of the important highlights of this phase was training for various types of emergencies in space, including medical emergencies.

Sharing photos in its website, the Indian Space Agency said upcoming training will primarily address the remaining modules of the U.S. Orbital Segment of the space station along with training towards conducting scientific research experiments in microgravity environment during the mission.

In addition, the crew will train and perform different mission scenarios in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.