Anand Mahindra Hopes Gaganyaan Mission Astronauts Will Inspire 'New Generation Of Indians'

As India gears up for its first-ever crewed space mission – Gaganyaan, industrialist Anand Mahindra has hailed the four astronauts, who are set to venture into space. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the names of the selected candidates at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Kerala on Tuesday. Four experienced officers of the Indian Air Force, who have been given the prestigious astronaut wings, are Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.

After the news came to light, Anand Mahindra shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) featuring a photograph of the Indian astronauts, who have previously worked as test pilots and are currently undergoing training for the Gaganyaan mission. “India announces the 4 Indian astronauts for the Gaganyaan mission to space. I grew up seeing photos of only American astronauts & Russian Cosmonauts,” the billionaire wrote.

Mahindra was left overwhelmed as he had been waiting to see his fellow countrymen in “those adventurous space suits—on their way into Indian Spacecrafts.” “That wish now seems to be turning into reality. And I hope it will stoke the imagination and the aspiration of a whole new generation of Indians,” he added in the caption of the X post.

The post garnered mixed reactions from social media buffs. While some showed a thumbs-up to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the much-awaited Gaganyaan mission, others went on to lash out at Anand Mahindra for not mentioning Rakesh Sharma – the first Indian astronaut, who conquered space in 1984. He flew off on a Soviet spacecraft to reach the Salyut 7 space station, with commander Yury Malyshev and flight engineer Gennady Strekalov accompanying him in the mission.

Reminding Anand Mahindra of the historic achievement, one user commented, “He (Rakesh Sharma) spent a total of seven days, 21 hours and 40 minutes in space and successfully returned to Earth. Inspired by his achievement, the Government of India honoured him with ‘Ashoka Chakra’. The Soviet government also honoured him with the ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ honour.”

Another user similarly slammed Anand Mahindra for dropping an ill-researched post, commenting, “Looks like You were no born when Indira Gandhi asked IAF officer Sqn Leader Rakesh Sharma, ‘How does India look from space?’” Notably, in reply to the question, Sharma said, “Sare Jahan Se Accha (Better than any country).”

Agreeing with Anand Mahindra, an individual said, “Indeed! Amazing to see this! Cosmos is the dream.”

The ISRO has already tested the human readiness of the cryogenic powertrain that will be utilised to run the Gaganyaan mission vehicles. The first test flight is expected to take off by the end of this year. Following that, the manned mission will begin. A three-member crew will enter into a low earth orbit of 400 km altitude before coming back to Earth after three days.