Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday had a video interaction with Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who is currently on board the International Space Station (ISS). The discussion was a landmark one since Shukla was the first Indian astronaut in more than four decades to travel to space.
Group Captain Shukla is one of those selected by ISRO who was sent to the ISS on 25 June aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule as part of the Axiom-4 mission, along with three other international astronauts.
The flight departed from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and is a joint venture between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which was agreed upon by former US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi to send the first Indian astronaut to the Space Station.
The Prime Minister also commended the mission as an "auspicious start" — or a "shubh-aarambh" — of a new era in Indian space exploration.
"I had a great conversation with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as he spoke about his experience on the International Space Station," Modi posted on X, along with a clip of the conversation.
The Prime Minister also played on Shukla's first name, pointing out that "Shubh" (auspicious) marks the start of a shining future in space for India.
The Prime Minister's Office tweeted a picture of the encounter and reminded that Shukla's mission comes with the "wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians." Previously, upon the launch of the mission, Modi had greeted the entire Axiom-4 crew members, including US mission commander Peggy Whitson, mission pilot Shukla, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
The crew of Axiom-4 docked with the ISS successfully on Thursday. During their two-week mission, they will perform 60 scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, and educational outreach activities in microgravity. Out of these, Shukla will be heading seven important experiments.
In his initial public statement from the Space Station, Shukla called the experience "a privilege," thanking both for the celestial view and for the camaraderie that is present onboard. "Whatever hopes I had of arriving here were exceeded by the view, obviously that is a huge part of it, but also by you lot," he wrote to his fellow crew members.
"I feel that this is brilliant, this is terrific and I am highly optimistic that the next 14 days are going to be terrific, pushing science and research, and cooperating."
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