Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla Returns to India: After Axiom-4 Space Mission, Likely to Meet PM Modi
Captain Shubhanshu Shukla Returns to India: After Axiom-4 Space Mission: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, India’s second astronaut and the first Indian to go to the International Space Station (ISS), has returned to his homeland. After splashdown near the California coast on July 15, he arrived in Delhi early Sunday. He was welcomed at the airport by his family, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and a large number of others. Drums were played at the airport to welcome him, and people also waved the tricolor. People present here also raised slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai.
Shubhanshu Shukla’s space journey and mission
Group Captain Shukla was the pilot of the Axiom-4 mission. This mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, on June 25 and connected to the ISS on June 26. Shukla was training at the facilities of NASA, Axiom, and SpaceX in the US for the past year.
Shubhanshu Shukla’s experience will give wings to India’s space dream.
It will play an important role in India’s ambitious human space program, Gaganyaan (2027). Apart from this, India has set a target of the Indian Space Station (Bharatiya Antariksh Station) by 2035 and a manned lunar mission by 2040.
Meeting with PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned Shukla in his Independence Day speech. Now, Shukla will meet the PM and participate in the National Space Day program on August 23. The PM has urged him to document his experiences and learnings so that it can help in future missions.
Discussion in Parliament
According to sources, there will be a special discussion on Shukla’s mission in the Lok Sabha on Monday, in which it will be told how the space program will help India become a developed nation by 2047.
Emotional post on social media
While returning to India, Shukla shared a photo on Instagram and wrote that he is going through mixed emotions. He wrote, “Sad to leave the friends and family I met in America, but also happy to return to India and meet my family and countrymen. As my commander Peggy Whitson says – change is the only permanent thing in space travel, the same is true in life.” He ended the post by writing the lines of the song ‘Yun hi chala chali rahi’ from the film ‘Swades’.
Shubhanshu Shukla’s family is happy
Shukla’s family, who live in Lucknow, were present on both the launch and landing. His father, Shambhu Dayal Shukla said, “We are very happy that our son completed a successful mission and now he has returned to India. We are looking forward to meeting him in Delhi.”
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