Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is an Indian Air Force test pilot and astronaut, set to become the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). His mission marks a historic milestone for India, coming 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s spaceflight.
Key Details About Shubhanshu Shukla:
- Born: October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
- Education: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from National Defence Academy (NDA); M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering from IISc Bangalore.
- Military Career: Commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2006, with over 2,000 hours of flying experience across aircraft like Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32.
- Astronaut Training: Selected for India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight program in 2019, trained at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and ISRO’s Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.
- Mission Role: Pilot of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, assisting with launch, docking, and re-entry.
Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4):
- Launch Date: June 11, 2025, postponed due to weather.
- Crew: Includes Peggy Whitson (USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).
- Duration: Up to 14 days aboard the ISS.
- Experiments: Conducting seven India-specific experiments, including studies on water bears (microscopic organisms) to understand microgravity adaptation.
Interestingly, Shukla is carrying Indian delicacies like aamras, moong dal halwa, and gajar halwa to space! His mission is a major step for India’s space ambitions, strengthening collaboration between NASA, ISRO, and SpaceX
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