‘Mix of emotions': Shubhanshu Shukla to return to India, meet PM Modi tomorrow
He will return later to the capital, along with the three other Indian astronaut designates, for the celebration of the country's second Space Day to mark the anniversary of Chandrayaan-3 moon landing on August 23. PM Modi is expected to meet Shukla, 39, and his fellow astronauts who are part of India's Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission: Prashanth Nair, 48; Ajith Krishnan, 43; Angad Pratap, 43.
Axiom-4 was a private astronaut mission to the ISS, organised by Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX. After returning from the ISS on July 15, Shukla, along with his Axiom-4 crewmates, has been in Houston, Texas, reacclimatising to the earth's gravity. There have been videos showing Shukla struggling to maintain balance after spending 18 days on the ISS.
Afterwards, the crew spent the first two weeks of August in debriefing sessions with officials from Nasa, Axiom Space, and SpaceX. His back-up for the mission, Group Captain Prashanth Nair, was also in the United States for the entire duration of the mission. Both astronauts participated in the Independence Day celebrations at the Indian consulate in Houston.
The Indian Express previously reported that all four Indian astronauts would be present at the Space Day celebration. 'It was felt that the ceremony should include not just Shubhanshu but all four astronauts instead, as all of them are equally trained and qualified,' an official in the know of the matter had said.
Sitting on the flight back home, Shukla posted on Instagram a smiling photograph of himself. He said in the post: 'As I sit on the plane to come back to India I have a mix of emotions running through my heart. I feel sad leaving a fantastic group of people behind who were my friends and family for the past one year during this mission. I am also excited about meeting all my friends, family and everyone in the country for the first time post mission.'
He added that the goodbyes were hard but everyone needs to keep moving in life. He said his commander (Peggy Whitson) fondly says that 'the only constant in spaceflight is change'.
'I believe that applies to life as well. I guess at the end of the day -'Yun hi chala chal rahi – jeevan gaadi hai samay pahiya.'
During the Axiom-4 mission, Shukla, who was referred to as Shux by his crewmates, spent 18 days on board the ISS with Commander Peggy Whitson (US) and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary). The team conducted 60 experiments representing 31 countries across the world, including seven experiments that India had sent.
Shukla is the second Indian to go to space, around 40 years after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's sojourn. He is also the first Indian to go to the ISS. This was a precursor to the Gaganyaan mission that will send the astronauts to space onboard an Indian spacecraft. India also plans to set up a space station by 2035.
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