Phone felt heavy, dropped laptop: Shubhanshu Shukla on readjusting to life on earth

New Delhi: Weeks after returning from the Axiom-4 mission, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla on Friday shared experiences of readjusting to life on earth like how even a mobile phone felt heavy to hold and he dropped his laptop thinking it would float like in space.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Shukla and his Axiom-4 mission colleagues shared the experiences of their 20-day space mission and the 18-day stay at the International Space Station.

"After 41 years, a Bharatiya returned to space. But this time, it was not a solitary leap, it was the beginning of India's second orbit. And this time, we are ready, not just to fly but to lead," Shukla said.

Shukla became the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma's sojourn as part of the Soviet Russian mission in 1984.

Shukla's Axiom-4 mission blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 25 and returned to earth on July 15.

The Lucknow-born astronaut said the moment that stood out in the entire space sojourn was when he spoke to the "Prime Minister of Bharat" on June 28 with the tricolour floating behind him.

"That moment symbolised India's re-entry into the conversation, not as a spectator but as an equal participant," Shukla said.

Sharing his experience of re-adjusting to the gravity on earth, Shukla recalled the moment he asked for a phone to click pictures and how heavy it felt in his hand.

"The minute I held the phone, I felt this was heavy. The same phone that we hold all day long felt really heavy to me," Shukla said.

Sharing another instance, he said, "I had some work to do on my laptop. I was sitting on my bed and I just closed my laptop and left it to the side of the bed. I dropped my laptop thinking that it would float right next to me. Thankfully, the floor was carpeted so there was no damage done." Shukla said the 20-day mission exceeded his expectations and he learnt a lot that would help India in its Gaganyaan mission.

He described his role not just as a spacefarer but as a "messenger showing what's possible".

"But the true spark – believing in what is possible in space among young Indians – is what this mission was all about." Shukla said he had done all the homework Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to do on the space station.

"I was asked to document everything that we were doing. I can assure you that I have done that very well. I am excited to come back and share all that with our programme. I am confident that all that knowledge is going to prove extremely useful and crucial for our own Gaganyaan mission," he said.

"The knowledge that I have gained spans the history of human space missions. I have been fortunate to receive all that," he said.

Shukla said the success of his mission has already started showing results as children back home have started asking how they can become astronauts.

"That is also a big success for this mission because one of the primary reasons you do human spaceflight missions is to inspire the younger generation and get them to believe that they can be explorers as well. I think that is already partially achieved. I am extremely happy and pleased with the outcome of this mission," Shukla said.

Shukla is expected to return to India mid-August.