Four Indian Air Force test pilots who have been chosen to be trainee astronauts for India’s first manned mission to space, expected in a couple of years, began their basic training for space missions at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Russia on February 10, Russian space agency Glavkosmos and GCTC said in official statements.
“This Monday, Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center has started the planned training programme of Indian candidates for a spaceflight under the contract between Glavkosmos, JSC (part of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos) and the Human Spaceflight Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),’’ Glavkosmos said in the statement.
In a welcome address to the Indian test pilots, GCTC head Pavel Vlasov, a decorated Russian test pilot, said he hopes the IAF pilots’ flying experience and testing of aircraft for the Air Force will help them succeed in studying space technology.
“I am sure you are familiar with the history of manned space exploration, which means you know how many foreign cosmonauts and astronauts our centre has prepared,” Vlasov told the Indian trainee astronauts on their first day. “I think with your experience in development of aircraft you will successfully cope with the task of studying space technology. And we will do our best to make your stay in the CPC and Star City as comfortable and effective as possible for you.”
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