The first four Indian astronauts train in Moscow

The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keeping four military test pilots in Moscow, who are training on Russian soil to become cosmonauts and fly into space in the next few years aboard the Gaganyaan capsule, a word that in English means "celestial ship". The training period for the four aviators takes place in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that is also sweeping Russia - with more than 21,000 infected officers - whose epicenter is precisely the Russian capital. They are all being held at the Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center, a large complex of facilities, laboratories and housing located some 40 kilometres northwest Moscow

Candidates are selected from hundreds of pilots by a panel consisting of Air Force specialists, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russian advisers, and the small group of pilots are involved in a 12-month curriculum and internship that should enable them to obtain a cosmonaut's licence. However, just like their teachers, the Indian military have been subject to the measures of isolation, social distancing and teleworking imposed by Vladimir Putin on the Russian population since the end of March, which will last at least until 30 April. 

The Centre's management assures that the four pilots are "healthy", enjoy "daily medical supervision", their training "has not been suspended" and they have already completed "about a quarter of the programme".  

With the approval of ISRO chairperson, Dr Kailasavadivoo Sivan, the curriculum followed by Indian pilots and their stay at the Centre has been designed specifically for them by the Russian faculty. One of the special features is the culinary aspect, which avoids meals seasoned with beef and offers instead a wide variety of vegetarian dishes. 

The Indian airmen began their training in mid-February and the first weeks were dedicated to perfecting their Russian language skills. The main reason is that the written and visual documentation of the course are written in the Cyrillic language, as well as the information recorded on the simulators of the spaceships in which they exercise.

In future they will have to carry out the survival phases in winter conditions, at sea and in desert areas, in case they fall into an unforeseen area when they return to land. 

They will also have to perform parachute jumps and dive with special diving suits in the giant deep pool of the Training Center to perform tasks equivalent to space walks. Also, they have to get used to the feeling of micro gravity on board a special Ilyushin-76MDK aircraft, whose swooping ascents and descents cause a dozen moments of zero gravity, each lasting about 25 to 28 seconds.  

Once the period of confinement decreed by Vladimir Putin because of the pandemic is over, an Indo-Russian Joint Commission will have to propose by consensus whether to resume the classroom training course or to cancel the training and return the aviators to India to wait for the disappearance of the coronavirus COVID-19.

However, some voices have already emerged in influential political and social spheres in the country that disagree with the convenience of continuing with multi-million-dollar plans established a few years ago, at a time of overwhelming growth and economic joy. 

One of them is precisely Gaganyaan, with an estimated cost between 1.3 and 1.7 billion dollars, an initiative that seeks the international prestige of the nation and whose fundamental purpose is to send national cosmonauts to space to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the country's independence, which will be celebrated on August 15 of that year. 

With more than 10,000 people infected and nearly 500 dead from coronavirus - according to official figures - and after extending the confinement of the population until 3 May, the difficulties of harvesting the crops, maintaining the supply chain and feeding its 1.3 billion inhabitants could trigger a colossal disaster throughout the subcontinent.

One of those questioning the continuation of the Gaganyaan mission is parliamentarian and economist Jairam Ramesh, chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Jairam Ramesh, a former minister of rural development and also a former minister of health and drinking water, believes the mission should be delayed "by at least three or four years", which would not have much impact on the project and would instead allow for the deployment of large resources to combat the pandemic. 

The Gaganyaan programme was announced in a surprise move by re-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2018 Independence Day speech. As a direct competitor to Beijing on the strategic level, the New Delhi government aims to position itself as one of the great space powers and try to match the achievements of the United States, Russia and China, which already have men and women who have travelled to Earth orbit.

For now, the Gaganyaan programme run by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is well advanced, although the survival systems for the cosmonauts on board still need to be developed. However, the development of the heat shield of the capsule, the exhaust system and the cosmonauts' diving suits have been completed and an unmanned capsule has been recovered from the sea. Also, the two unmanned test flights before sending the first capsule carrying humans into space are well defined. 

As it is an aircraft capable of carrying three cosmonauts, the four now in Moscow are insufficient. At least one additional team of four aviators will have to be trained in Russia to have a reserve crew.

None of the four test pilots who are now in training will become the first Indian cosmonaut. An agreement reached in 1980 between Soviet leader Leonidas Brezhnev and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, allowed two Indian Air Force test pilots to train at the Cosmonaut Training Centre 40 years ago. 

The one chosen to achieve glory was Rakesh Sharma, who on April 3, 1984 flew in the Soyuz T-11 space capsule to the Russian Salyut-7 orbital complex, where he spent about 8 days living with the Russians Yuri Malyshev and Gennady Strekalov. Together with Rakesh Sharma, Ravish Malhotra also trained in Moscow, but he did not have the opportunity to reach space.