JNN, New Delhi. India’s astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has created history. He has become the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS). When Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts reached the ISS on Thursday, they were warmly welcomed by the astronauts already present there.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will spend 14 days in the International Space Station and will conduct several experiments during his mission. Earlier, the first Indian astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, spent eight days in orbit aboard the then-Soviet Union’s Salyut-7 space station in 1984.
The Dragon spacecraft, carrying Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Peggy Whitson of the US, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, and Slavoj Ujnanski-Wisniewski of Poland, reached the ISS after a 28-hour journey around the Earth. Peggy Whitson, commander of the ‘Axiom-4’ mission, presented the astronaut pin to Shubhanshu Shukla.
This made him the 634th astronaut to travel to space. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station at 4:01 p.m. Indian Standard Time. At that time, it was passing over the North Atlantic Ocean.
The astronauts emerged from the Dragon spacecraft and took their first look at their “home” in low Earth orbit, NASA said in a post on X.
Whitson, who is making her fifth space journey, said, “We are very happy to be here. It was a long time to be in solitude.” The four astronauts waved to Mission Control in Houston. NASA’s live video showed the spacecraft approaching the space station. On Wednesday, nearly 28 hours after its launch from Florida at 12:01 a.m., the Dragon spacecraft began preparing to dock with the space station by firing its thrusters and moving at a slow and steady speed.
