Space is super fun but very disoriented: Shubhanshu Shukla

Bhubaneswar: Space is super fun to live in, but at the same time, it is also very disoriented due to lack of gravity, astronaut and group captain Shubhanshu Shukla said on Wednesday.

While interacting with school students here, Shukla said, "Space is fun, as everything, including your body, is floating there. It was very easy for us to move elements of even bigger cargo without using much force."

To have fun, the astronauts used one of them like a ball and played by pushing him from one hand to another, he said while sharing a video clip of that fun moment inside the International Space Station.

However, it was very difficult for the body to adjust to the environment (space), he said.

"It was very difficult to understand up and down…my mind was completely confused. For three to four days, I did not feel hungry as everything in our stomach is also floating," said Shukla, India's first astronaut to visit the International Space Station.

The body undergoes a lot of physiological changes in space. As there is no load/exercise on the muscle, the muscles degrade very fast, the astronaut said while informing that he had lost over 4.5 kg of muscle mass during his stay in space.

He said the body then gradually became used to the new environment. But when one reached the earth from space, it was again very difficult to go back to the previous stage.

"Your mind is a powerful tool which makes you believe things which are not necessarily true," he said.

Stating that India is on the right path where it will need a lot of space scientists and researchers in the future, Shukla said, "We need to develop curious minds and problem-solving skills to meet the need."

"When we talk about space exploration, we have the skill to solve problems which we don't even know. The critical skill required for it is problem-solving skill," he told the students while answering their queries.

He appealed to students not to confine their dreams only to become an astronaut, as there is a lot of scope in space scientist sector, starting from dress design to nutrition.

During his presentation, Shukla also shared videos he had shot of how the Earth, India, and sunrise looked from the International Space Station.

Addressing the gathering, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made provision of Rs 1 lakh crore for research and innovation under Research Development & Innovation Scheme.

Several missiles and drones used against Pakistan during Operation Sindoor were built in the soil of Odisha, Majhi said.

He appealed to the students to avail the benefit of the scheme by adopting the path of research, innovation and technology to become a person like Shubhanshu Shukla and part of Viksit Bharat growth story.