Our man up there

A little over forty years after Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel to outer space, had described the country from up there as “Saare Jahan Se Achchaa”, this time it is the turn of the second Indian, Shubhanshu Shukla, to take a look at this land and make every Indian proud. As he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday from the International Space Station, India looks grand and bigger from space than it does on a map. Group Captain and Axiom-4 mission pilot Shubhanshu Shukla has scripted history by becoming the first Indian on the International Space Station. It is significant to note the Prime Minister’s remark that although Shubhanshu Shukla is presently the farthest from the Indian motherland, he remains closest to the hearts of all Indians. It is also interesting to note that Shubhanshu’s name itself carries auspiciousness, and his journey marks the beginning of a new era. Prime Minister Modi’s conversation with Shukla has been already described as not just one taking place between two individuals but embodied the emotions and enthusiasm of 140 crore Indians. Modi has himself stated that the voice speaking to Shubhanshu was not just his individual voice but one which carried the collective zeal and pride of the entire nation. In this context, it is important to keep in mind the reason why Shukla’s Ax-4 space mission experience aboard the ISS is crucial. The reason is it exposes him to a longer duration of stay and conduct of experiments in space. The experience that Shukla will bring back to the table will be invaluable. As Shukla has himself stated, this journey of his is not a beginning to the International Space Station but to India’s Human Space Programme. For the record, the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) Mission is a collaboration involving Axiom Space, NASA, ISRO, and the European Space Agency. The Ax-4 mission will also be remembered for enabling an Indian astronaut to return to space after 41 years.