Shubhaanshu Shukla enters space station

 

 

P P Cherian, Dallas

Florida/New Delhi: Mission-4, carrying Shubhaanshu Shukla along with three others from the US, Poland and Hungary, lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31 am (12 noon IST) and docked at the Harmony module's space interface port at 6:30 am (4:00 pm IST). In a major leap for India, IAF Group Captain Shubhaanshu Shukla made history on Thursday by becoming the first country to enter the International Space Station.

After a long and exciting wait of 41 years, India now has an astronaut in space. Shukla, born in Lucknow, is the second Indian to go into space after Rakesh Sharma, who flew into space in 1984.

'#AX4 has entered the space station,' Axiom Space said in a post on social media platform Axium, more than an hour after docking. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named 'Grace', is carrying Ax-4 commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and mission specialists Slavos Usnanski-Wisniewski and Tibor Kapu.

"The Dragon spacecraft is emerging from its orbit and is looking at its home in low Earth orbit for the first time," NASA added.

The seven crew members of Expedition 73 - Anne McClain, Nicole Ayers, Kirill Peskov, Johnny Kim, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexei Subritsky and Takuya Onishi - welcomed the AX-4 crew to the Expedition Post.

"The world is watching as India conquers the skies..." said Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh in a post on social media platform X. "It is heartening to see India's science ecosystem quietly and confidently writing its own chapter in space exploration. With Shubhaanshu Shukla, India is not just a passenger on this journey. We are a partner and a future-ready team. His presence will significantly strengthen our Gaganyaan mission. He will add experiential depth to the planning, life science payloads and long-term spaceflight objectives,” added former ISRO chief Dr. S. Somnath.

The crew blasted off to the ISS at 2:31 am (12 noon IST) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “Greetings to all, greetings from space. I am so happy to be here with my fellow astronauts. Wow, what a journey it has been. "As I sat in the capsule on the launchpad, the only thought in my mind was: Let's go," said Group Captain Shukla.

"When the journey started, it was something - you were pushed into the seat. It was an amazing journey. And then suddenly there was nothing. You were floating in a void," he added, describing his space experience. "I was learning like a baby; how to walk and eat in space," he added.