Shubhanshu Shukla explains why he is feeling like a baby in space

After making history for India, Indian Air Force captain and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, speaking from space, said he felt like a baby after lifting off from the Kennedy Space Centre, as every moment of the mission has been a new learning experience.

"I wasn't feeling very great when we got shot in the vacuum, I have been sleeping a lot," revealed Shukla in a live telecast of Axiom. "Learning like a baby... how to walk and eat in space: Shubhanshu Shukla from Dragon spacecraft.

Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla lifted off aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 12:01 pm Wednesday, achieving the rare feat of being only the second Indian to journey to space after Rakesh Sharma’s historic flight in 1984.


On the 14-day trip for the Axiom mission (Ax-4), the four-member crew including NASA veteran Peggy Whitson, Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu will conduct more than 60 scientific experiments representing 31 countries aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

“Namaskar, my dear countrymen! What a ride! We are back in space once again after 41 years. It’s an amazing ride,” were the first thoughts shared by Shukla from the Dragon space capsule. He will serve as the pilot on the mission.

Lucknow-born Shukla said his journey is not the beginning of India’s journey to the ISS but the country’s pivot to its human space programme.

The Ax-4 mission will provide valuable operational experience for India ahead of its maiden human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, which aims to carry a three-member crew to low-earth orbit. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) mission is scheduled for 2027, followed by Bhartiya Antriksh Station by 2035, and a planned human moon landing by 2040.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Shukla and wished the mission success.