In a historic development for India, Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station.
India’s return to human spaceflight: In a great moment for Indian space story, Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian astronaut to reach the International Space Station (ISS), 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s historic mission. For those unversed, Shukla is part of Axiom Space’s fourth private spaceflight mission. Launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 12:01 pm IST carrying the astronauts of the Axiom-4 mission towards the ISS.
India’s return to human spaceflight
The astronauts began orbiting the Earth 10 minutes after the launch, prompting Shukla to announce India’s return to human spaceflight after 41 years.
“Kamaal ki ride thi (It was a great ride),” Shukla said soon after the Dragon spacecraft was placed in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of 200 km. The spacecraft is expected to dock at the ISS at 4:30 pm on Thursday, capping a 28-hour journey.
Mission to space
The Lucknow-born Shukla, former NASA astronaut Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are part of the Axiom-4 mission that marks the return to space for the three nations.
Shukla became the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station, a journey that comes 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s eight days in orbit as part of the then Soviet Union’s Salyut-7 space station in 1984.
“Namaskar, my dear countrymen; we have reached space after 41 years. It was a great ride,” Shukla said.
“We are orbiting Earth at a speed of 7.5 km per second, I have the Indian tricolour embossed on my shoulders that tells me that I am with all of you,” he said in Hindi.
Notably, Shukla is expected to participate in several outreach events during his stay at the ISS and is also expected to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(With inputs from agencies)
