Shux scripts history, first Indian in International Space Station
BENGALURU: At 5.54 pm IST on Thursday, India's Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla (call sign 'Shux'), mission pilot on Axiom-4 (Ax-4), became the first Indian astronaut to enter the International Space Station (ISS) after the mission's DragonX spacecraft, named Grace, docked with the space laboratory at 4.01 pm IST, 29 minutes ahead of schedule.
Immediately on docking, the mission commander Peggy Whitson of the USA, who is a former NASA astronaut and current director of Axiom Space (human space flight), sent a message to Mission Control Huston ground station and to the 11-astronaut team already on the ISS, 'Grace happy to be on Harmony' – Harmony being the module on the ISS which provides international docking adapters on its space-facing and forward ports for commercial crew vehicles, like Grace. Shukla was the second to enter the ISS after Peggy.
The entire docking exercise, in slow capture mode, was completed autonomously by Grace, with mission pilot Shukla's services required only if any maneuvering glitches had occurred.
All the four Ax-4 mission crew astronauts, including Ax-4 mission specialists Stawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, were warmly greeted with hugs and cheers by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Roscosmos (Russian Space Agency) astronauts already aboard the ISS.
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Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Shubhanshu Shukla floats, Isro digs in at Houston to watch & learn
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla may be astronaut number 634, but he is far from the only Indian drawing value from the Axiom-4 mission. While Shukla orbits Earth aboard the International Space Station, a contingent of Isro engineers and doctors stationed in Houston is immersed in a parallel mission — one rooted not in weightlessness, but in quiet learning. For them, this is not just a spectacle; it's a field laboratory where decades of preparation for India's human spaceflight future are converging into real, tactile understanding. 'This is the first time we're seeing these operations up close—till now, it was all just documentation,' said a senior Isro official closely involved with the mission. 'For us, this hands-on exposure is valuable. Add to this the science Shux will do at ISS, and it only gets better.' Part of Isro's delegation are eight engineers, Isro doctors and one doctor from IAF's Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), which was involved in the initial screening and selection of astronauts for India's Gaganyaan . On Thursday, the team got rare observational experience spread across the Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Axiom's Mission Control in Houston. These individuals aren't simply shadowing American counterparts; they're embedded observers in restricted environments where much of the true know-how of human spaceflight resides. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo For instance, on the day the Dragon capsule docked with the ISS, the Isro team was not just allowed into the JSC to watch operations unfold live. 'We were on the audio loop, listening to mission control discussions. We saw what control operations did, how many docking attempts were made, what kind of error parameters were being monitored. These are not things you'll find in any public webcast or document,' the official said. While Nasa does publish mission sequences, the real-time judgement calls, procedural fluidity, and console data are generally inaccessible to the outside world — unless, as in this case, you're a partner with boots on the ground. Isro's access will deepen further. 'They're setting up a dedicated conference room for us, where live console data will flow in,' the official said. There's more than docking being studied. With Gaganyaan planning to carry out multiple docking ops in the years ahead — and with India's future space station on the horizon — Isro engineers are keen to absorb the choreography of mission ops in real environments. 'We've done one docking so far. But a space station will require many. Watching this from inside Nasa's systems gives us critical learning that we can't replicate in India just yet.' Medical operations, too, are under the Isro lens. Two doctors from the agency are part of the Houston team and are already participating in alternate-day medical conferences with Shukla aboard the ISS. 'It's a private medical conference link—used routinely by Nasa and Axiom—and our doctors are now involved in that process. This is how they'll learn the medical rhythms of human spaceflight,' the official said. As part of India's learning curve in astronaut rehabilitation and post-flight recovery, the doctors will also observe Shukla's reconditioning phases, both immediately after his return and during follow-up weeks in the US. The team is split between Axiom's control centre and JSC's, depending on the operation. While JSC largely handles docking and mission dynamics, Axiom leads crew management, flight surgeon coordination and private astronaut interfaces. Axiom's mission centre is where people from Hungary and Poland are stationed too but because they don't have Nasa agreement like Isro does, they don't have JSC access like the Indian space agency. Shux Floats, Isro Digs In At Houston To Watch & Learn.
The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
Letters to The Editor — June 28, 2025
Setting foot in space What an historic leap for India in space after decades (Front page, June 27). The cost of the Gaganyaan mission and the budget spent on Shubhanshu Shukla's seat on Ax-4 are not relevant if one considers the success rate of the Indian Space Research Organisation's missions. It must be viewed as an investment in advancing India's scientific progress. J.P. Reddy, Nalgonda, Telangana More importantly, the research work during the space odyssey is sure to rekindle scientific curiosity among schoolchildren. G. Ramasubramanyam, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Tharoor versus Congress It is unfortunate that the Congress party appears to be intolerant of individual opinions within its ranks. There is a contrast between Shashi Tharoor's balanced perspective and the Congress critical stance toward the government at the Centre, which seems to be its primary agenda. Manicklal Chakraborty, Chennai Law and order I am sure that I am not making a mountain out of a molehill, but there is concern about the law and order problem in Tamil Nadu. The series of incidents that have been reported from across the State show Tamil Nadu in a bad light. The points that are being raised by the Opposition parties cannot be dismissed. The political dispensation needs to act. Mani Nataraajan, Chennai
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Now a star in orbit, Shubhanshu Shukla was always a natural in the sky
BENGALURU: He was the kind of cadet who didn't just learn to fly — he belonged in the sky. Years before Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to board the International Space Station (ISS), he was already turning heads in the cockpit of a Super Dimona aircraft at the National Defence Academy (NDA). Back then, he was just another cadet from the Hunter Squadron — call sign not yet famous, dreams still earthbound. But to the instructor watching closely from the co-pilot's seat, one thing was clear: the young man had wings. 'He had a natural flair for flying,' recalled Group Captain (retd) Anupam Banerjee, Shukla's first flying instructor at NDA. 'In just the first few sorties, we could tell. Some cadets struggle with the feel of the controls or spatial awareness. Not Shukla. He was confident, intuitive — a very natural flier.' It was 20 years ago. The aircraft was an Austrian-built HK-36TC Super Dimona, used for ab-initio flying exposure at NDA before cadets move on to formal pilot training at the Air Force Academy. Shux, as Banerjee recalled, aced those initial flights — an early indication of the career that lay ahead: Jaguars, test pilot school, and finally, a ride to low-Earth orbit on Axiom-4 (Ax-4). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Избавляемся от боли в суставах с помощью натуральных средств! Здоровые Суставы Undo But what truly stood out, Banerjee said, wasn't just skill. 'He was sincere, extremely hardworking, and that's a rare combination when paired with ability. I told him then — you'll go far if you keep this up.' Years later, when Shukla was preparing for spaceflight, he sent Banerjee a message. He hadn't forgotten the words. 'He told me he remembered what I'd said: that it's not enough to be a good flier or officer — you must be a good human being. That stayed with him. And when he told me that, it meant a lot.' Banerjee had flown with Shukla only seven or eight times, but the connection endured. 'He always stayed in touch. Not many do. Whenever he reached a big moment in life, he'd send a message. That says a lot about the man he's become.' Before launch, the two had one last conversation. 'I knew he was about to enter quarantine, so I wished him luck. I told him life had already prepared him for what was coming. And that, a part of me was going to space with him.' Watching Shukla dock with the ISS, Banerjee says he felt something beyond pride. 'It's still unbelievable to me — that someone I trained, someone who first flew with me, is now in space. It's not just about reaching orbit. It's about who he is as a person. That matters even more.' In a way, Shukla's story is a flight path traced not just in the sky, but in character. 'When your students do well, you feel proud. But when they turn out to be fine human beings too — that's greater joy.' So yes, Shux may now be astronaut number 634. But long before he floated weightlessly in a pressurised module, he was already soaring — on skill, sincerity, and the sort of quiet steel that can't be taught.
