New Delhi: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to India in the early hours of Sunday after becoming only the second Indian in space. He lands at Delhi’s IGI airport to rousing welcome. At the airport he was received by Union minister Jitendra Singh, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, and ISRO Chairman V Narayanan.
Along with Shukla, Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair also returned from the same flight. He was Shukla’s backup for the Axiom mission. Shukla is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, before heading to his home town of Lucknow.
Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission that lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked at the International Space Station on June 26. He returned to Earth on 15 July after 18 days. Shukla was with three other astronauts at the ISS — Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).
‘Moment of pride for India’
“A moment of pride for India! A moment of glory for #ISRO! A moment of gratitude to the dispensation that facilitated this under the leadership of PM @narendramodi. India’s Space glory touches the Indian soil… as the iconic son of Mother India, #Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla lands at Delhi in the early hours of morning today. Accompanying him, another equally accomplished Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of the astronauts selected for India’s first Human mission Gaganyaan who was India’s designated backup for the mission to the International Space Station #ISS,” Jitendra Singh wrote on X.
On Saturday, Shubhashu had posted a smiling picture of himself sitting in an aircraft on Instagram, writing that he was filled with mixed emotions as he left the US and was eager to return to India to share his experiences with everyone. “As I sit on the plane to come back to India, I have a mix of emotions running through my heart. I feel sad leaving a fantastic group of people behind who were my friends and family for the past year during this mission. I am also excited about meeting all my friends, family, and everyone in the country for the first time post-mission. I guess this is what life is – everything all at once,” Shukla said in the post.
Shubhashu’s post on mixed emotions on leaving the US
“Having received incredible love and support from everyone during and after the mission, I can’t wait to come back to India to share my experiences with all of you. Goodbyes are hard, but we need to keep moving in life. As my commander Peggy Whitson fondly says, ‘The only constant in spaceflight is change.’ I believe that applies to life as well,” he added.
Shukla also wrote, “I guess at the end of the day – ‘Yun hi chala chal rahi – jeevan gaadi hai samay pahiya’,” recalling the song from the Bollywood movie Swades, which was on his playlist just before he embarked on the Axiom-4 mission to the ISS on June 25 from the US.