Gaganyaan astronauts trained at Rakesh Sharma's Russian center

The four astronauts who will be part of India's first human space flight program, Gaganyaan, were trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut training center in Russia, the same center where Rakesh Sharma underwent training.

Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to go into space in 1984.

Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), at Star City, is about 30 kilometers north of Moscow.

It is named after the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.

The center offers high-tech training facilities, including integrated simulators.

It also offers survival training for many possible landing situations, including mountains, woodlands, marshes, deserts, in the Arctic and on the sea.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the names of the four astronauts who are undergoing training for the country's maiden human space flight mission, Gaganyaan.

The four astronauts are -- Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap, Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, Modi said at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba near in Thiruvananthapuram.

On Monday, Rediff.com had reported that Group Captain Prasanth Nair is one of the Gaganyaan astronauts.

Bestowing 'astronaut wings' to them, the PM said they are four forces that encompass the aspirations of 1.4 billion people of the country.