New Delhi:
It was tears of joy, the mother of the second India to fly into space told NDTV today, hours after the launch of the Axiom Mission 4 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s family watched the Falcon 9 rocket blast off today, carrying him and three other astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), when his mother Asha Shukla broke down.
“I was very happy to see my son reach such heights. Those were tears of happiness. Sometimes, people cry when they are overwhelmed by happiness,” Ms Shukla told NDTV.
Wing Commander Shukla scripted history today, 41 years after astronaut Rakesh Sharma’s spaceflight onboard a Russian spacecraft.
His sister Nidhi Mishra told NDTV they had a chat before the launch.
“The whole country was watching us. I told him we are very proud of him. It was a very overwhelming moment for us. Our brother is going [to space]… We never thought something like this would ever happen in our family. But it is happening and it is real. He is in space now,” Ms Mishra said.
The astronaut’s mother added he told her that he would return to Earth as soon as possible once the mission is over and meet all of them.
“Before leaving, he told us ‘Mom, dad, take care of yourselves’,” she said.
Ms Shukla pointed out she has accepted the risk that comes with space travel, with the simple fact that risk is always a factor in life.
“Risk is everywhere… There is nothing to worry; he will handle it,” she said, adding she is confident in her son’s abilities and she needed to give no advice to him as he is the one who is “giving advice to the whole world” on space travel.
As the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft entered orbit around Earth within 10 minutes of launch, Group Captain Shukla remarked, “Kya kamaal ki ride thi (what an amazing ride). The tiranga (tricolour) on my shoulders tells me that I am not alone and I am with all of you,” the 39-year-old astronaut said in his first remarks from the Earth’s orbit.
“We have returned to space after a gap of 41 years… We are orbiting the Earth at a speed of 7.5 km per second… This is not just the beginning of my journey to the International Space Station, but the beginning of India’s human space programme and it is my desire that all citizens become a part of this journey,” he said.
The Dragon spacecraft – named Grace by the astronauts – is expected to dock at the ISS at 4.30 pm IST on Thursday.
