Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian astronaut to reach space on Thursday, docking at the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ‘Grace’ — 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s historic flight.
“Docking confirmed!” SpaceX said in a post on social media platform X.
The private mission, organised by Axiom Space, reached the ISS at 6:30 am ET (4:00 pm IST), docking with the Harmony module after a 14-hour journey from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew lifted off at 2:31 am ET (12:01 noon IST) on Wednesday.
Shukla, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, is part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) along with three others — mission commander and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Polish ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Hungarian payload specialist Tibor Kapu.
“Hello everyone, namaskar from space. I am thrilled to be here with my fellow astronauts… what a ride it was,” Shukla said in his first message from orbit, describing the sensation of being pushed into his seat during launch, followed by the stillness of weightlessness. “I’m learning like a baby — how to walk and eat in space.”
Born in Lucknow, Shukla is the first Indian to reach the ISS, and the second Indian in space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 in April 1984.
During his two-week stay at the ISS, Shukla will conduct experiments in food systems and space nutrition. The research, developed in collaboration with ISRO, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and NASA, will examine how microgravity and radiation affect nutrient-rich edible microalgae — seen as a potential food source for future long-duration space missions.
The study will analyse changes in gene expression, protein synthesis, and metabolic activity in algae grown in space, compared to Earth-based samples.
Calling the mission “a step forward in India’s human spaceflight journey,” Shukla’s flight comes ahead of ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission, scheduled for 2025.
IANS