Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla.
Credit: X/@DrVedu
New Delhi: During his two week-long stay at the International Space Station, Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will have live interactions with students, academia, industry and a VIP but his space flight is now delayed by two days.
Axiom Space's AX-4 mission carrying Shukla and three others, has been postponed to June 10 at 5:52 pm IST, onboard SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The docking is scheduled a day later.
The spaceflight was originally scheduled for May 29 and then rescheduled to June 8.
The announcement was made on Tuesday during a virtual press conference with the Axiom-4 mission crew members, who are currently in quarantine before their travel to the ISS.
Asked about his plans on-board the ISS and whether he would speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from space, Group Captain Shukla said apart from scientific experiments, certain live events were planned including an interaction with a VIP.
“Also there will be interactions with students, academia and industry. We hope to ignite curiosity in young minds. We need youngsters invested in space exploration as we also have Gaganyaan and Bhartiya Antriksh Station programmes,” he said.
Group Captain Shukla will be the second Indian to travel to space four decades after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's iconic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.
The IAF test pilot said he would be carrying an item to space in the memory of Sharma, but did not disclose what it is. Asked on Indian delicacies he is carrying, Shukla said he would be taking delicacies like mango nectre, moong dal halwa and carrot halwa for him and other crew members.
Besides Shukla, the mission pilot for the Axiom-4 mission, the other crew are Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, marking both European nations' first travel to the ISS in history and the second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over 40 years. The mission is being led by space veteran Peggy Whitson of the USA.
The crew is also carrying a toy swan named Joy as the fifth member of the mission.
The Ax-4 astronauts will perform around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries. Shukla will conduct seven Indian experiments. He would also participate in five joint studies planned by NASA for the human space flight programme.
Asked about the exciting things he would be expecting , Shukla said observing the Earth from a vantage point would be a unique experience. “I would also look forward to getting the traveller number, which every astronaut gets, from the Mission Commander.”
"For the people of India, this mission is a milestone and I request India to pray for the success of the mission. Even stars are attainable,” Shukla said.