From cockpit to cosmos: Shubhanshu Shukla hails IAF training; eyes Gaganyaan mission

NEW DELHI: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who recently returned from space, said on Sunday that the Indian Air Force (IAF) in general and a cockpit in particular have been great teachers in his life.

Sharing his experience in space, Shukla India looks really beautiful from space and especially during the night, it's "one of the most beautiful sights that you can ever see in your life".

"I also have a small clip from space that I tried to capture of India. And India does look really beautiful. I'm not just saying it because all of us are Indians and we are sitting here, but I think that if you speak to any astronaut who is there on the station, the unique positioning and the shape, especially during night if you pass over India from the Indian Ocean, south to north, I think it is probably one of the most beautiful sights that you can ever see in your life," he said.

He futher said: "Whatever I've gone through and whatever I've achieved, I feel that the background that I had or the preparation that I had for years by being in this uniform and by being in the Air Force, that any one of us who's sitting here would have done an equally good job. And that is the confidence I carry with me whenever I see whatever life throws at you, the kind of character that Air Force has built up for all the people sitting here."

Defence minister Rajnath Singh attended the felicitation function for Gaganyatris and felicitated Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and his other colleagues, Group Captain P V Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan and Group Captain Angad Pratap.

Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, and Air Force Chief, Air Marshal AP Singh, were also present

The first uncrewed mission of the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme is ready to launch with a robot and the liftoff is expected in December, said Isro chairman V Narayanan on Thursday.

“The first uncrewed mission, G1, is going to lift off by this year's end, maybe close to December. And in that, the Vyommitra, the half-humanoid, is going to fly,” Narayanan said.

Addressing the media in the presence of space minister Jitendra Singh and astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the Isro chief lauded Shux for his successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS) — the first ever by an Indian. His experience of piloting the Axiom-4 mission is set to be crucial for the Gaganyaan mission.