New Delhi | The four astronauts selected for Gaganyaan, India's first human space flight mission, have been kept out of the public glare to ensure that there were no distractions, as they were undergoing certain acclimatisation and training programmes, the government said on Wednesday.

Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan and Shubanshu Shukla have been selected for the mission.

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, "It was a view that giving too much exposure to the media and the public might cause a distraction which may not be in the compatible interest of all." Singh was responding to a question on why these astronauts were kept away from public eyes.

The minister also said that one of the astronauts, Shukla, would accompany astronauts from other countries on their journey to the International Space Station (ISS).

"The chosen one was Wing Commander Shukla, who is now Group Captain Shukla. That is how his name came to be little more widely known," Singh said.