
Meet Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla: First Indian To Be Sent To ISS By ISRO, Alumnus of World's Largest School in Lucknow; Do You Know He Is Gaganyatri Too?
1 / 7
Shubhanshu Shukla made history as the first ISRO astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) and only the second Indian to travel to space. Interestingly, he completed his schooling at the world's largest school, which is located right here in India. Born in middle class family
2 / 7
Shubhanshu Shukla was born in Lucknow to a middle-class family. His father, Shambhu Dayal Shukla, is a retired government officer, and his mother, Asha Shukla, is a homemaker. He completed his education at City Montessori School in Lucknow, which holds the distinction of being the world's largest private school. India's largest private educational institutions.
3 / 7
City Montessori School (CMS) was founded in 1959 by renowned educationist Jagdish Gandhi and his wife, Dr. Bharti Gandhi. It began in a small room of their modest home in Lucknow with just five students and an initial investment of ₹300. Over time, CMS established its first official campus, now called the Station Road Branch, and gradually expanded into one of India's largest private educational institutions. Spread across 20 campuses
4 / 7
Shubhanshu Shukla's alma mater, City Montessori School in Lucknow, is recognized as the world's largest school. As of August 2023, it had an enrollment of 61,345 students spread across 20 campuses. The school is also supported by a teaching staff of over 1,000 educators. English medium institution
5 / 7
City Montessori School is a co-educational English medium institution that offers core subjects like Science, Mathematics, English, Hindi, Social Science, and Art from pre-primary to Class 12. The school also emphasizes cultural development by providing training in Indian classical music, dance, and drama as part of its curriculum. Guinness World Records as the world's largest school
6 / 7
In August 2023, City Montessori School earned a spot in the Guinness World Records as the world's largest school, with a student enrolment of 61,345. Earlier, in 2014, the CMS society was recognized by the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) as an affiliated NGO. The school has also received the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education and the 'Hope of Humanity' Award from the Dalai Lama. Axiom-4 mission
7 / 7
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) at 4:43 PM IST on June 26, 2025. His journey was part of the Axiom-4 mission, which lifted off at 12:01 PM on June 25 aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A. The Crew Dragon capsule successfully docked with the ISS the following day.
(Image Credits: Axiom Space, MyGov)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
20 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Countdown begins for NISAR satellite launch
The countdown for the NISAR satellite mission started at 2.10 p.m. on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with the 2,392-kg satellite is scheduled to lift off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.40 p.m. on Wednesday (July 30, 2025). About 19 minutes after lift-off, the GSLV-F16 rocket will inject the NISAR satellite into a 743-km sun-synchronous orbit. The NISAR satellite – NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite – will scan the Earth and provide all-weather, day-and-night data at 12-day intervals, and enable a wide range of applications. It is the first joint satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Senior NASA officials said that working with the ISRO on the mission has strengthened their relationship. The Director of Earth Science, NASA Headquarters, Karen St. Germain said, 'Building a satellite on opposite sides of the world during a global pandemic was really hard, but it strengthened our relationship with ISRO. The collaboration, the cooperation, information sharing, and, frankly, joint learning between our two agencies is a foundation that we look forward to continuing to build upon.' She added that NISAR is a model for the next generation of Earth observation capability. 'India built the spacecraft bus and the S-band radar and is providing the launch vehicle, launch services, and satellite mission operations. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) built the L-band radar and the mission's radar reflector and boom. NASA is also providing a high-rated communications subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and the payload data subsystem,' she added. Phil Barela, NISAR project manager, JPL, said that the two space agencies learnt a lot from each other in the last decade. 'We have been at this for over a decade with our partner, ISRO, and it has been a phenomenal journey. The amount that we have learned from each other during this period has just been phenomenal,' Mr. Barela said. He added that during the height of COVID-19 pandemic, around 65 ISRO engineers visited JPL to work on the integration and conduct tests. 'Over the last two-and-a-half years, NASA has sent out over 175 engineers to ISRO's facilities to keep the integration and tests going and get us ready for where we stand today and ready for launch. It has been a wonderful journey. I'm anticipating a lot of very happy people, not only in the U.S., but also in India,' he added.


Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
ISRO begins the countdown for the launch NISAR satellite using the GSLV-F16 rocket
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) on Tuesday at 2:10 pm began the countdown for the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar NISAR ) satellite, which will be launched on Wednesday at 5:40 pm using the GSLV-F16 is being sent to scan the entirety of Earth every 12 days and provide high-resolution, day-and-night, all-weather imagery across a 242 km swath. It also aims to support climate change research disaster response , and Earth science studies "We are going to launch the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite through the GSLV-S16 rocket by July 30th," said ISRO chairman Dr V satellite features NASA 's L-band and ISRO's S-band radar to track surface changes with centimeter-level precision. It will systematically map Earth's surface, monitoring dynamic processes like glacier retreat, vegetation changes, and will deliver high-resolution data crucial for monitoring natural disasters, environmental degradation, and infrastructure GSLV-F16/NISAR Mission stems from a decade of technical cooperation between the two teams of ISRO and NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to ISRO, the mission has got a lot of firsts. It is the first mission to carry dual-band radar satellite, a GSLV rocket will carry a satellite to be placed in Sunsynchronous Orbit (unlike PSLV rockets) and it is the first ISRO-NASA Earth Observation 2,392 kg, the satellite would observe the earth with a swath of 242 km and high spatial resolution, using SweepSAR technology for the first time, ISRO of the other applications are ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterisation, changes in soil moisture, mapping and monitoring of surface water resources and disaster response, the space agency will provide scientific information about the Earth's processes and it would study key changes in Earth's land and ice. The mission would also be more powerful than previous Synthetic Aperture Radar missions as it will monitor parts of Earth which are not previously covered.(With agency inputs)


The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Tech innovations in AI and robotics pave way for sustainable future, says former ISRO scientist
Technological innovations, especially in AI and robotics, are poised to redefine the fundamentals of economic competitiveness and environmental stewardship, paving the way for a sustainable future, said A. Sivathanu Pillai, former Chief Controller (R&D), ISRO, and founder-CEO of BrahMos Aerospace. Delivering the 12th Dr. V. Bhujanga Rao Endowment Lecture at GITAM Deemed to be University on Tuesday, Mr. Pillai spoke on the theme 'Building a Sustainable Future Integrated with National Vision.' The lecture was jointly organised by the university's School of Technology and the Condition Monitoring Society of India (CMSI). He highlighted India's advancements in nuclear energy, space research, defence technologies, renewable energy, and net-zero initiatives. He stressed that sustainable development should aim to build a happy and healthy society, ensure economic resilience, and strengthen national security. Mr. Pillai underlined the transformative potential of industrial, humanoid, and space robotics in sectors such as agriculture and healthcare. Noting that India's youth, over 800 million strong, can be a powerful force when equipped with the right skills and involved in nation-building projects, he called for innovation-driven engagement. Operation Sindoor Citing the success of the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which has been deployed from land, sea, and air platforms, he said the project exemplifies effective international collaboration and public-private partnership. He pointed to its role in Operation Sindoor as an example of indigenous technological excellence attracting global attention. Encouraging the younger generation to think big, he envisioned future innovations such as reusable and mind-operated cruise missiles. Condition monitoring V. Bhujanga Rao, Chairman of KIMS Foundation and former Director General of DRDO, spoke on the rising importance of condition monitoring in industry. He explained how AI and data analytics are transforming the field by enabling faster, more accurate, and predictive decision-making. CMSI president and NSTL scientist P.V.S. Ganesh Kumar projected that the global condition monitoring market, valued at USD 4.38 billion in 2024, is expected to nearly double to USD 8.85 billion by 2034, highlighting its growing industrial relevance.