Overview
- Speaking at IIT Bombay, Shubhanshu Shukla said he had two wisdom teeth removed before his Axiom‑4 mission because dental surgery cannot be performed on a spacecraft.
- Shukla added that shortlisted Gaganyaan pilots Prasanth Nair and Angad Pratap also underwent preventive procedures, with three and four teeth removed respectively.
- He completed his first spaceflight on Axiom‑4 to the International Space Station, a commercial mission operated by Axiom Space with support from ISRO and NASA, and is described as the first Indian to reach the ISS.
- Indian Air Force test pilots were emphasized as the natural astronaut pool, with 70–80% of their training aligning with astronaut preparation and the current shortlistees focused on ground integration rather than flight assignments.
- Selection is highly competitive, with about 200 IAF applicants yielding only five test pilots annually; for Gaganyaan, 75 were considered and four were shortlisted after psychological, physical, and late‑2019 medical evaluations in Russia.