Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla becomes the first Indian to visit ISS

New -Delhi, June 9 (IANS). ‘Namaste, I am a group captain Shubhanshu Shukla …’ These proud words belong to Indian Air Force Jambaz test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla who said this in a video released in space before his historic flight. Shukla, a combat pilot for 15 years, will now become the first Indian citizen to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). This historical mission will be introduced under the ‘Axiom-4’ Mission of Axiom Space, also known as ‘Mission Akash Ganga’. The private space flight begins the SpaceX Crew Dragon C223 of Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center on June 10. After about 28 hours of travel, the vehicle will join the ISS on June 11 at 22:00. Lucknow-born 39-year-old Shubhanshu Shukla received a commission in the Indian Air Force in June 2006. He has achieved a flight experience over 2,000 hours so far and has achieved several aircraft such as Sukhoi-30 MK 1, MIG-21, MIG-21, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and AN-32. In 2020 he was selected for the Gaganyan mission of Isro. This is India’s first human space flight project. Four years later, his spacecraft took a new turn. Shukla said: “Rakesh Sharma, the first astronaut commander of India, went to space in 1984. I read about him earlier in school books and was very impressed to hear his experiences.” As for his journey, he said: “Initially my dream was to fly. But the way to become an astronaut later opened. I consider myself very happy that I had an opportunity to fly and then had the opportunity to apply to become an astronaut. -Ians DSC/EKD shares this story -tags