'Gaganyaan 2022': Indian astronauts complete training in Russia

At least four Indian Air Force fighter pilots selected for India’s first manned space mission Gaganyaan 2022 have completed training in Russia on crew actions in the event of an abnormal descent module landing, Russian space corp, Roscosmos said in a statement. Russian state corporation for space activities Roscosmos, also known as the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities has been training the Indian astronauts at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) with general space training programme and systems of the Soyuz MS crewed spacecraft courses. 

"To date, Indian cosmonauts have completed training on crew actions in the event of an abnormal descent module landing: in wooded and marshy areas in winter (completed in February 2020), on the water surface (completed in June 2020), in the steppe in summer (completed in July 2020)," the statement said. "In June 2020, all Indian astronauts-elect passed training in short-term weightlessness mode aboard the IL-76MDK special laboratory aircraft, and in July, they were trained to lift aboard a helicopter while evacuating from the descent module landing point," it added. 

GCTC instructors appreciated the effort and high motivation of the Indian cosmonauts, adding, the candidates are extremely serious and have very professional attitude to the training process in the statement.

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A contract for Indian candidates' training for spaceflight was signed on June 27, 2019, between the Gavkosmos and the Human Spaceflight Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). GCTC commenced the four IAF candidates’ training in February 2020. Training completion at GCTC is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021, according to the statement. As per ROSCOSMOS, the training courses for the cosmonauts includes a number of courses ranging from medical and physical training, learning Russian (as one of the main international languages of communication in space), and studying the configuration, structure, and systems of the Soyuz crewed spacecraft.

Health status monitored

Once, every three months, the health status of the Indian candidates is monitored by the highly professional GCTC doctors. The program for Indian cosmonauts also has the training to be conducted in a centrifuge and in a hyperbaric chamber to prepare them for sustaining spaceflight factors, such as G-force, hypoxia, and pressure drops. In a separate statement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) indicated that its Gaganyaan mission 2022 may be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, that heavily relied on the future course of events, a news agency reported.

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