Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair Age, Wife, Family, Biography
Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair Age, Wife, Family, Biography
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Hometown: Palakkad, Kerala
Age: 47 Years
Wife: Lena Kumar
| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Other Name | Prashant B. Nair |
| Profession(s) | Indian Air Force personnel, Astronaut |
| Famous for | Being chosen as the Commander of the team of astronauts for the 2025 Gaganyaan Mission |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters**- 175 cm** in meters**- 1.75 m** in feet & inches**- 5’ 9”** |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms**- 50 kg** in pounds**- 110 lbs** |
| Eye Colour | Dark Brown |
| Hair Colour | Bald |
| Military Service | |
| Service/Branch | Indian Air Force |
| Rank | Group Captain |
| Stream | Fighter Pilot |
| Honours | Sword Of Honour at the passing out parade at AFA, Hyderabad |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 26 August 1976 (Thursday) |
| Age (as of 2023) | 47 Years |
| Birthplace | Source 1- Thiruvazhiyad village, Palakkad district, Kerala, India Source 2- Nemmara, Palakkad district, Kerala, India |
| Zodiac sign | Virgo |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Palakkad, Kerala |
| School | • Primary schooling in Kuwait • Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Palakkad |
| College/University | • NSS College of Engineering in Palakkad • National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune • Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington • Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), Montgomery, Alabama, USA • Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru |
| Educational Qualification(s) | • B.Tech (Instrumental & Control Engineering; dropped out) at NSS College of Engineering • Graduation at NDA • Military course in aviation with first-class honours at ACSC • M.Tech at IISc check sources Onmanorama |
| Religion | Hinduism check sources Onmanorama |
| Hobby | Reading |
| Relationships & More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Marriage Date | 17 January 2024  |
| Family | |
| Wife/Spouse | Lena Kumar (also spelt as Lenaa) (famous Malayalam film industry actress, author)  |
| Parents | Father- Valampil Balakrishnan Nair (engineer, retired government employee) Mother- Koolanghaat Prameela Nair (homemaker) Note: Parents' image in siblings' section. |
| Siblings | Brother(s)- 2 • Pradeep Nair (engineer) • Praveen Nair (engineer) Sister- 1 • Pratibha (lives in Thrissur, Kerala)  Note: Both his brothers are settled abroad. |
| Favourites | |
| Food | Homemade food by his mother |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair
He moved to India from Kuwait, where his father had a job, following the outbreak of a war between Kuwait and Iraq.
At Chinmaya Vidyalaya, where he enrolled after coming to India, Prasanth formed a basked ball team. As per his teachers, he generated likeness towards the sport during his time in Kuwait. He played basketball for his squadron at the NDA as well.
Prasanth B. Nair giving a speech at a school event
He was a meritorious student and scored 455 out of 500 marks in his class 12th board exams.
A photo of the honour board at the Chinmaya Vidyalaya
After completing schooling, Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair appeared and scored well in medical and engineering entrance exams. However, he decided to pursue engineering at NSS College of Engineering after being influenced by his engineer brothers.
He left his engineering studies mid-way to join the National Defence Academy in Khadakwasla, Pune.
A photo of Nair taken when he was in the National Defence Academy (NDA)
He reported to the Air Force Academy (AFA) in Hyderabad after completing his military training at the NDA. There, he underwent training to fly fighter jets.
As per some sources, he joined the IAF as a flying officer in 1999; however, others state that he joined in 1998.
Prasanth has more than 3000 hours of flying experience in different warplanes such as Sukhoi Su-30MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, BAE Systems Hawk, Dornier 228, and Antonov An-32.
He has held the posts of a directing staff member at the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) and flying instructor at the Chennai-based Flying Instructors School (FIS).
Following his promotion to the rank of group captain, Prasanth commanded a squadron of the Sukhoi-30MKIs.
In 2016, he piloted the Sukhoi aircraft for the test launch of the initial air-launched version of the Brahmos missile. Following this, India joined a select group of nations with the ability to deploy nuclear warheads from air, sea, and land.
In 2018, Balakrishnan was among the 30 IAF pilots who were initially shortlisted to go to space under the Gaganyaan project of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2025.
Under the Gaganyaan mission, ISRO has planned on stationing 4 astronauts 400 kilometres above sea level for 3 days and then bring them back to Earth. It is supposed to take place in 2025.
After undergoing a tough selection process, only 12 pilots, out of the 30, remained in the race to become astronauts by mid-2019.
Thereafter, four IAF pilots, including Group Captain Angad Pratap, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, were selected to become ISRO’s first vyomnauts (a word derived for astronauts from Sanskrit).
From left to right – Ajit Krishnan, Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, S. Somanath, Angad Prathap, and Shubhanshu Shukla
Balakrishnan, being the most experienced pilot, was made the team commander.
The initial training of the selected team to become astronauts was done at the Bengaluru-based Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM).
They then went to Russia, where the team received advanced training in technical and other aspects of working in space in a spacecraft at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. At the same centre, India’s first astronaut Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma received training in 1984.
Balakrishnan stayed in shape during astronaut training by practising yoga, exercising at a gym, and swimming regularly.
A photo of Balakrishnan Nair taken while he was doing yoga
After training in Russia for 18 months, the team came back to India.
They underwent additional training and evaluation process at the Human Space Flight Centre in Bengaluru.
The training of Group Captain Nair, Group Captain Pratap, Group Captain Krishnan, and Wing Commander Shukla ended in February 2024.
On 27 February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded astronaut wings to these officers.
PM Narendra Modi pinning the astronaut wings on the uniform of Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair
On the same date, Lena Kumar uploaded an Instagram post in which she revealed that she and Balakrishnan did not reveal their marriage due to security concerns. She also revealed that it was an arranged marriage.
An Instagram post uploaded by Lena about her marriage
In 2025, Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair’s team will become the first group of Indian astronauts to be launched into space from India.
Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair lost 25 kilograms of weight due to the extremely difficult astronaut training. Before joining the training, he used to weigh around 75 kilos.
He loves to meditate to maintain his mental health.
In August 2024, ISRO signed an agreement with Axiom Space Inc. to send Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair and Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission. Nair was selected as a backup, while Shukla was chosen as the prime astronaut.
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