UP: Family members of Axiom Mission 4 pilot Shubhanshu Shukla meet CM Yogi in Lucknow
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 26 (ANI): The family members of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) pilot and Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Thursday evening.
Shukla's father Shambhu Dayal Shukla, mother Asha Shukla, sister Shuchi Mishra, and brother met the Chief Minister, who felicitated them and presented them with a token of appreciation in honour of Shukla's selection for the space mission.
Speaking to ANI, Shukla's mother, Asha Shukla, said, 'We are delighted. We could meet the Chief Minister today due to our son. He felicitated us. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to him. He appreciated our child and said that he has done so well. We feel very proud. We have a new identity today due to our son.'
Axiom-4 pilot and IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla earlier made history by becoming the 634th human in space and the first Indian to board the International Space Station (ISS), describing the moment as a 'privilege.' The Ax-4 crew successfully docked with the ISS following a 28-hour journey aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
'I am no 634, that's a privilege,' said Shukla shortly after receiving his astronaut pin from Ax-4 mission commander Peggy Whitson. 'To be fair, it is a privilege to be amongst the few who have got the chance to see the Earth from a vantage point that I have been able to see now. It has been a wonderful ride. I was looking forward to coming to space--it is something to look forward to. But the moment I entered the ISS, I felt welcomed. You guys literally opened up your doors like your house doors for us, that was fantastic. The expectations I had were surpassed, so thank you so much; this was fantastic. I am confident the next 14 days are going to be amazing doing science and research,' he said.
In a message to Indians back home, Shukla said, 'It is because of your love and blessings that I have safely reached the International Space Station. It may look easy to stand here, but it is not; my head is aching. However, we will get used to it. We will be here for 14 days, conducting scientific experiments and speaking with you. This is a milestone for India. Let's make this journey exciting and let everyone participate with interest.'
He added, 'The Tricolour I bear on my shoulder makes me feel as though the entire country is with me. I believe the next 14 days are going to be truly interesting.'
The Ax-4 crew, comprising Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Mission Specialist Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary, entered the ISS at 8:23 a.m. EDT after a smooth docking. Their arrival was marked by a traditional welcome ceremony.
The mission represents a return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation sending a government-sponsored astronaut to the ISS for the first time in over 40 years. This is also the first time these countries are conducting a mission aboard the ISS.
As Axiom Space's most research-intensive mission to date, Ax-4 will include over 60 experiments and technology demonstrations. These include studies in biology, muscle regeneration, edible microalgae, digital interface testing, and the survival of aquatic organisms. The research has been jointly developed by NASA, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and Axiom Space.
The crew launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 3:21 am ET on Wednesday, June 25. The mission is expected to last for up to 14 days. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Deccan Herald
38 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
June 27, 2025: Best photos from around the world
Israelis enjoy the sun by the beach of the Mediterranean, in Haifa Credit: Reuters Photo Aftermath of the demonstration marking first anniversary of deadly 2024 anti-government protests, in Nairobi Credit: Reuters Photo Kim Kardashian gestures on a boat, ahead of the anticipated wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez in Venice, Italy Credit: Reuters Photo U.S. President Donald Trump holds a "One Big Beautiful" event at the White House Credit: Reuters Photo India's Shubhanshu Shukla with three other astronauts and International Space Station (ISS) crew after the Axiom-4 mission's Space-X Dragon spacecraft docked to the ISS, as part of the mission. Credit: PTI Photo Eve of Rath Yatra in Puri Credit: PTI Photo
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Express View: Asia on the boil
It's now well known that though climate change affects all parts of the world, some regions are more vulnerable than others. Asia, for example, is prone to almost all the consequences of global warming — heat waves, floods, erratic monsoons, melting glaciers and sea-level rises. A new report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) released this week has found that the continent is warming twice as fast as the global average. Asia's vulnerability is exacerbated by its geology. The continent has the largest landmass — 44.58 million square kilometres. Temperature increases over land are greater than those over the oceans. The exceptionally high temperatures then cause oceans to warm up. That's why the continent experienced marine heat waves last year, the WMO report points out. The surface temperatures of the Indian and Pacific Oceans touched a record high last year. Ocean temperatures around Asia have risen at 0.24 degrees Celsius per decade over the past 10 years — nearly double the global average of 0.13 degrees. As natural disasters over the past 10 years have underlined, communities in South and Southeast Asia are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rises. The WMO report also draws attention to floods in Pakistan and Kazakhstan, heatwaves in China and Central Asian countries, typhoons in Southeast Asia and the landslide that struck Wayanad in Kerala last year. Outdoor work is important to the labour-intensive economies of most countries in the region, making people vulnerable to heat, rain and cold. Studies have also shown that though overall agricultural productivity has increased in Asia, climate change has slowed down progress. Research now indicates threats to food and water security in the world's most populous continent. For instance, the vulnerability of rice — a key staple in the region — to droughts, increasing salinity and soil damage has been underscored by several studies, including those by the IPCC. Almost every Asian country has a global warming mitigation plan. Increasingly, however, it's becoming clear that people will need to adapt to erratic weather. The WMO report underlines the need to put in place early warning systems. Such systems should help people deal with multiple hazards. For instance, intense spells of rain can trigger floods and landslides while high temperatures can spark wildfires or make them more severe. If there's one message in the WMO report, it's this — policymakers in Asia will need to invest in increasing people's resilience and weatherproofing economies.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Shubhanshu Shukla's space odyssey: A glimpse into what the future holds for India
The sight of a beaming Shubhanshu Shukla at the International Space Station (ISS) has to be one of the most indelible images of our time. Shukla's journey opens a new chapter in India's space programme — the era of human space travel. It builds upon a series of extremely impressive achievements of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the past decade or so, each of which resulted in it acquiring several critical new capabilities. Human spaceflight capability is the next achievement in this line. The fact that Shukla's journey has not come on India's own mission does not take anything away from the significance of this moment. The value of his feat is a little different not just from the other first-time astronauts on the Axiom-4 mission, but also from many other astronauts who have been to space on similar missions earlier. That's because it is not a one-off incident — it's the beginning of a process. Shukla himself put it aptly when he said it was not the beginning of his journey but the beginning of India's human spaceflight programme. So far, citizens from about 50 countries have been to space. But just three countries actually have the capacity to send humans to space — the United States, Russia and China. Very soon, India will be the fourth. Shukla could very well have been on an Indian mission, powered by an Indian rocket and travelling in an Indian spacecraft. In fact, this is how it was meant to be. He, along with three others, were selected as astronauts for an Indian mission. The fact that the Axiom-4 mission materialised ahead of India's Gaganyaan mission provided an excellent opportunity for ISRO to gain first-hand experience in space travel. This mission will lead to a lot of learnings not just for Shukla but also for ISRO that will be directly applicable to the crewed missions of Gaganyaan, the first of which is now scheduled for 2027. ISRO did well to grab this opportunity as it prepares to acquire its own human spaceflight capability. This is not the only reason this mission is significant for India. The space sector has been going through a very exciting phase and is witnessing hectic activity. Private players, particularly in the US, are entering the field in a big way, and there has been a proliferation of space-based assets. The lower Earth orbits — 200 km to 2,000 km from the Earth — are the most active regions, primarily for commercial reasons. This is where most of the satellites and other assets are deployed. The ISS is also located in this band. The longer-term goal seems to be to leave this area largely to private players to exploit for commercial activities and service the growing need for space-based data for applications on Earth. National space agencies can then focus their energies on more ambitious projects, like creating long-term settlements on the Moon, and possibly Mars. Human spaceflight capability is a crucial element of these plans. The US and China are aggressively advancing their plans for the Moon. India cannot afford to be left behind. The lunar surface is now seen as fit for resource extraction and as a platform to venture deeper into space. Soon, missions to the Moon, including crewed missions, will become as routine as satellite launches are today. Not having human spaceflight capabilities would make India dependent on other countries, and slow down its own plans for the Moon. Having this capability has other advantages as well. Space is a sector that has seen close cooperation even between bitter political rivals like the US and Russia. The ISS is a very good example of it. But this can happen only when both sides bring useful capabilities to the table. It is a recognition of ISRO's capabilities that NASA has entered into a strategic partnership with it, which includes cooperation on human spaceflight missions. India's participation in the Axiom-4 mission was a result of this. It opens up the possibility of more India-US joint human space missions in the future. ISRO was not a passive participant in the Axiom-4 mission. It had sent a strong team to the US in the weeks leading up to the launch, which was closely involved with the launch operations. We will see more such cooperation in the future. The ISS is already on extension and is due to be decommissioned by 2030. The ISS itself is an excellent model of international cooperation, with several countries contributing to its creation and operations. India is not a part of it. But a replacement for the ISS will most likely have India as a key partner. India has plans to build its own space station by 2035. It is not yet clear, but the possibility of India's space station becoming a component of the future replacement for the ISS cannot be discounted. Space stations will increasingly become the hub of research activities and scientific experiments that require microgravity conditions, and priority access to these would boost domestic research and development. The experience gained by Shukla can have more immediate benefits, and not just as inputs in the Gaganyaan programme. Shukla, and the three other astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan mission, had to undergo training in Russia because India does not have those facilities. Shukla and Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, who was on standby for the Axiom-4 mission, also went through advanced training at a NASA facility. Their knowledge and experience can now be utilised to set up an advanced astronaut training facility in India, particularly since we are embarking on a human spaceflight programme. This facility can be opened on commercial terms to other countries as well. The opportunities are immense, and Shukla's flight just offers a glimpse into what the future holds for India's space programme. The writer is former director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bengaluru
