Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla delivered his first message from the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, calling it a “privileged moment" to represent India in space. Speaking shortly after docking as part of the Axiom-4 crew, Shukla said he was “privileged to see Earth from this vantage point".
Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson pinned the Astronaut No 634 pin on Shukla’s suit before he delivered the remarks, a livestream on NASA’s X page showed.
He also thanked the occupants of the ISS for opening “their doors for them".
“I am confident that the next 14 days are going to be amazing," Shukla said.
Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, is seen as a key figure ahead of the country’s first indigenous human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, which is currently planned for 2027, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
Led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the mission also includes Poland’s Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu. The Axiom-4 astronauts will now spend 14 days on the station conducting scientific experiments and outreach work in microgravity.
“At 6:31 am EDT (4:01 IST) on Thursday, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station for the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 4," the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) announced in a statement.
Down here on Earth, Shubhanshu Shukla’s parents were brimming with pride but chose to thank every Indian citizen for supporting their son and as their city of Lucknow celebrated seeing its son go to space, setting a new record for Uttar Pradesh’s capital. The parents were also visited by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
