Astronaut pick from Kerala’s Palakkad is son of engineer; Malayalam actress Lena says they married earlier this month

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi announced the names of the four astronaut designates, Malayalam actor Lena posted on Instagram that she is married to Group Captain Prasanth. “This is a historic moment of pride for our country, our Kerala and for me personally. I have been waiting for this announcement to inform you that I married Prasanth on January 17, 2024 in a traditional ceremony through an arranged marriage,” she posted on Instagram.

Malayalam actor Lena with husband Prashant Balakrishnan Nair.

Prasanth was commissioned on December 19, 1998 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a Cat A Flying Instructor and a test pilot with approximately 3,000 hours of flying experience. He has flown a variety of aircraft, including Su-30 MKI, MiG- 21, MiG-29, Hawk, Dornier and An-32. He is also an alumnus of the United States Staff College and a DS at DSSC, Wellington and FIS, Tambaram. He also commanded a premier fighter, Su-30 Sqn.

Born on August 26, 1976, Prasanth is the son of Balakrishnan, a retired engineer, and Prameela, a homemaker. His two brothers are settled abroad and his sister lives in Thrissur, Kerala. Prasanth joined the NDA while he was pursuing engineering at NSS Engineering College, Palakkad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi bestowed ‘astronaut wings’ to the astronaut-designates at a function held at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, where he reviewed the progress of Ganganyaan.

Apart from Prasanth, Angad Prathap, Ajit Krishnan and Shubanshu Shukla have been selected to be the astronauts on India’s first crewed mission to space.