ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla floats in space in new video: ‘Like our minds in…’

ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla shared a moment from his days on the International Space Station (ISS) and discussed the challenge of staying still in microgravity. In a video, he tried to capture the moment when all he wanted was to remain still, but “failed” to do so.

Shubhanshu Shukla said it was a bit challenging initially as you are learning to move in microgravity and also getting to know the station. With a smiling emoji, Shukla said, “Apparently being still is a challenge with or without gravity.”

Shubhanshu Shukla took to Instagram to share a video wherein he could be seen floating in space. The video, he said, was shot only days after he reached the International Space Station.

“This video was a few days into the mission when I finally had better control over my movements. What I wanted to do was to be just still but clearly failed,” Shukla wrote in the video’s caption.

Shukla, who became India’s first astronaut to conduct research on the ISS, likened the stillness of body in space to the stillness of mind in a “fast-moving world.”

“Any small disturbance can move your body in space and it takes skill to be completely still. Kind of like our minds in this fast moving world. Take some time to be still today. It is important to sometimes slow down to be fast,” Shukla posted on social media on Saturday.

Shukla returned to Earth on June 15 when the Dragon Grace spacecraft carrying him and three other astronauts of the Axiom-4 mission splashed down off San Diego coast in California.

Shukla, or “Shux”, his call sign among colleagues and nickname for friends, became the first Indian on the ISS and the second after legendary Rakesh Sharma to venture into space.

Right now, he is in Houston. His wife Kamna, and their six-year-old son, Kiash, are already there. According to an official statement quoting Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Shukla and the three other astronauts of the mission will remain in quarantine until July 23 to complete medical and re-adaptation procedures.

During the 20-day mission, Shukla spent 18 days on the International Space Station, conducting microgravity experiments designed by ISRO as also by NASA. The astronauts orbited the earth 320 times and travelled over 135.18 lakh kms during their stay in space.