India is prepping up for its crewed orbital spacecraft 'Gaganyaan', which will be the first manned mission to space of the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO. 25 pilots will train in Russia for a year for the Gaganyaan mission, from there three astronauts will be selected to go to space for the seven-day Gaganyaan mission.
Odisha-born Nikhil Rath, a wing-commander in the Indian Air Force cleared the preliminary round of selection and got shortlisted among the 25 pilots. Nikhil's father Ashok Rath is a Balangir-based senior lawyer and his mother is a member of the Women Commission. Ashok Rath says,"Going to space is definitely a risky job. But our family has been serving the nation. My father was a freedom fighter and my elder brother, who was a commandant in CRPF, was martyred in Mizoram. I too had a desire to join defense service but unfortunately, it did not happen. Now my son is serving the country.''
Nikhil cleared the entrance exam in his first attempt; joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) as a cadet and in 2003 he joined the Indian Air Force. The Gaganyaan project was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this Rs 10,000 crore mission will take off 2021.
