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Four Indian pilots begin astronaut training in Russia
Why is it in news?
- The four Indian pilots chosen as candidate-astronauts on Monday began their 12-month training at the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Moscow, Russian space business company Glavkosmos has announced.
More in news
- From IAF team
(1) The four candidates are fighter pilots from the Indian Air Force and were chosen from among hundreds of applicants over the last few months.
(2) At the end of all training modules in India and Russia, one or two of the four will be finally named to circle the earth in the first crewed Gaganyaan, which is planned around 2022.
- Contract for training: In June 2019, the Human Space Flight Centre of the ISRO and the Russian government-owned Glavkosmos signed a contract for the training, which includes Russian support in the selection of candidates, their medical examination, and space training.
- More about the training programme:
(1) The 12-month training programme includes comprehensive and biomedical training of the Indian candidates, combined with regular physical practices.
(2) They will study in detail the systems of the Soyuz manned spaceship, as well as be trained in short-term weightlessness mode aboard the Il-76MDK aircraft.
- Il-76MDK aircraft: The Il-76MDK is an Ilyushin-78 military transport plane specially re-designed for parabolic flights of trainee astronauts and space tourists.
Source
The Hindu