11 hours ago
Industry, academia hail Group Captain Shukla's Axiom 4 mission to ISS
The academia and industry have hailed the launch of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom 4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) said hearty congratulations to Group Captain Shukla on becoming the first Indian astronaut to head to the ISS.
Group Captain Shukla was an MTech student at IISc and two of the seven microgravity research experiments which he would be conducting during his 14-day stay at the ISS had been proposed by the institute.
The two experiments are survival, revival, reproduction, and transcriptome of the eutardigrade Paramacrobiotus sp. BLR strain in space and analysing human interaction with electronic displays in microgravity by IISc.
Indian Space Association (ISpA) also praised Wednesday's launch. 'We are proud and happy to see Group Captain Shukla become the second Indian to travel to space, this time as part of the Axiom-4 mission. This journey is a testament to the growing global footprint of India in space exploration and is a stepping stone to what we want to achieve with Gaganyaan, our own indigenous human spaceflight programme. The success of missions like Axiom-4 inspires our ecosystem and strengthens our resolve to make India a leading force in the new era of space exploration,' said Lt. Gen. A.K. Bhatt (retd), Director-General, ISpA.
'From conquering the skies to touching the stars— a journey powered by the indomitable spirit of the IAF Air Captain Shubhanshu Shukla sets forth on a landmark Space Mission, carrying the pride of the nation beyond Earth. This is a dèja-vu moment for India, 41 years after the mission of Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, who first carried our Tricolour beyond Earth. Being more than a mission — it is reaffirmation of India's ever-expanding horizon,' the Indian Air Force (IAF) said in a post on X.
Group Captain Shukla is an alumnus of NDA and was commissioned on June 17, 2006 in the fighter stream of IAF. He is a fighter combat leader and a test pilot with approximately 2,000 hours of flying experience. He has flown a variety of aircraft including Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 etc.
