Lucknow:
Gunjan Shukla, watching her brother, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla lift off for space this morning, said it was a very emotional moment for her and the family. Watching the event live from Lucknow, she said they are now “relieved that he has completed the first two stages of his journey safely”.
At noon today, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian to travel to space on the Axiom-4 mission. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft flying on a Falcon-9 rocket blasted its way through the skies from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida — the spot from where Neil Armstrong set off for the moon in 1969.
His journey comes more than 40 years after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s journey to space.
Back in Lucknow — Group Captain Shukla’s hometown — his family sat at CMS Kanpur Road’s World Unity Convention Centre (WUCC) auditorium, eyes glued to a large screen television as the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off.
Asked what they would do over the next 15 days while he is n space, Gunjan Shukla told NDTV, “Rituals, puja, bhandara — whatever is a good deed, we will do our best to do that”.
“It’s a great moment not just for us but for our country. What can we say at this moment, I am struggling for words now. My blessings are always there with my son,” his father Shambhu Shukla told PTI.
“I have nothing more to say at this moment. I am delighted,” Shubhanshu’s mother Asha Shukla said. “I know he will be successful.
Though I am eagerly looking forward for him to return after a successful mission, I also know that even after returning back on earth, it will take a while before he actually gets back amongst us,” she told PTI.
On the fortnight-long mission, the four-member crew of Axiom-4 Mission will conduct 60 scientific experiments, seven of which have been proposed by Indian researchers.
Group Captain Shukla will participate in a space-to-Earth outreach programme and interact with a VIP from space. Seven crew members are already at the ISS.
