India’s First Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla Speaks To ISRO Chairman, Thanks PM Modi

India’s first Gaganyatri, Shubhanshu Shukla, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission on Monday had a conversation with ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan and thanked the Indian space agency for enabling his safe and successful journey to space expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for providing him with this incredible opportunity to represent India on the ISS. 

The discussion was also attended by several senior officials from ISRO, including Dr. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and Chairman of the Program Management Council for Human Space Programme; Shri M Mohan, Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC); Shri Padmakumar E S, Director of ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU); Shri M Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary of ISRO and Shri N Vedachalam, former Director of LPSC. 

Earlier, Shukla had some interesting conversations with students in India, who bombarded him with questions like what do astronauts eat, how does one sleep in space and what happens if someone falls sick. The students also sought to know about the benefits of the space programme and what part of the space visit is most enjoyable.

Reacting to students question, Shukla described the launch experience of the Axiom Mission 4 as “amazing” and “dynamic”.

“It is fun actually, because in space there is no floor and no ceiling. So if you were to come and visit the station (ISS), you would find someone sleeping on the walls, someone on the ceiling,” Shukla told students, IANS reported.

Shukla is on a 14-day scientific expedition on the ISS as part of the Axiom-4 mission, along with three other astronauts from the US, Poland, and Hungary.

The crew is conducting around 60 scientific studies and commercial activities in microgravity representing 31 countries, including the US, India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and nations across Europe.