Moong dal halwa, aam ras to feature in menu for astronaut Shukla during space station stay

New Delhi: Moong dal ka halwa, mango nectre (aam ras) and certain types of ready to eat rice will be available to Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as Indian food options during his two-week long trip to the International Space Station as the second Indian astronaut in four decades.

While NASA’s protocol for astronaut foods is to be followed strictly in the AX-4 mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation officials said a few Indian food items would be available for Group Captain Shukla, who will pilot the mission besides conducting seven microgravity experiments.

“Moong Dal ki Halwa, mango nectre and a few rice varieties will be available for Shukla. More such food will be there in the Ganagyaan mission,” said an ISRO scientist.

The Ax-4 crew will be launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the top of a Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS and spend up to 14 days at the orbiting laboratory. As many as 60 experiments will be conducted at the ISS including 26 by Hungary and seven by India.

However, a confusion has emerged on the launch date. While Axiom Space and NASA last week said the take-off would take place on May 29, Indian Space Research Organisation chairman V Narayanan on Tuesday said it would happen in the first week of June.

Queried about the date announced by the US agencies, an ISRO official said the Indian space agency didn’t receive any official communication on the launch date yet.