Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (Reporter) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday bestowed ‘astronaut wings’ to the four astronaut-designates for Gaganyaan Mission which is India’s first human space flight program. The astronaut-designates are Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. Group Capt Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair was born in Thiruvazhiyad, Kerala on 26 Aug 1976. He is alumnus of NDA and recipient of Sword of Honour at Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on 19 December 1998 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Cat A Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 3000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier, An-32, etc. He is also the alumnus of United States Staff College and a DS at DSSC, Wellington and FIS, Tambaram. He has commanded a premier fighter Su-30 Sqn. Group Capt Ajit Krishnan was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 19 April 1982. He is alumnus of NDA and recipient of President’s Gold Medal and Sword of Honour at Air Force Academy. He was commissioned on 21 June 2003 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 2900 hrs of flying experience. He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-21, Mig-29, Jaguar, Dornier, An-32 etc. He is also alumnus of DSSC, Wellington. Group Catp Angad Pratap was born in Prayagraj on 17 July 1982. He is alumnus of NDA and was commissioned on 18 December 2004 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Flying Instructor and a Test Pilot with approx 2000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc. Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla was born in Lucknow, UP on 10 Oct 1985. He is alumnus of NDA and was commissioned on 17 June 2006 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Fighter Combat Leader and a Test Pilot with approx 2000 hrs of flying experience. He has flown variety of ac including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), rviewed the progress of the Gaganyaan Mission and also inaugurated three important space infrastructure projects worth around Rs 1800 crores...////...