India, Dec. 26 -- Dental health is extremely important for astronauts, Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to reach the International Space Station, has said, recalling that he had two wisdom teeth extracted while preparing for his space journey. Shukla said that although astronauts are trained to handle emergency medical situations, they cannot perform dental surgery on a spacecraft.

He was speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay on Wednesday, along with Group Captain Prasanth Nair and Group Captain Angad Pratap, who have been shortlisted for 'Gaganyaan', the country's first human spaceflight mission. Nair explained why test pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are the natural choice for space trips.

Group Captain Shukla,...