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Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, India’s first astronaut to live on the International Space Station (ISS) and only the second Indian to travel to space, shared his remarkable journey in a global exclusive episode of GDP Podcast for MyGov India.
In conversation with Sharat Bhattathiripad he talks about joining the Indian Air Force, his space mission, interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and even the zero-fuel flight incident.
Reflecting on where it all began, he said, “As a kid watching fighter planes fly over our heads at 1,000 kilometers per hour, doing aerobatics… it was amazing. I was so amazed at it and thinking, ‘What’s going on? This is a completely different world… Fascination!'”
Sharat: Then you reach space. You represent 140 million Indians. You became the second Indian to go to space. After Rakesh Sharma after 41 years, now the record has been registered in your name. So what are the memories… of those moments?
Shubhanshu: The very next day I had a conversation with the Honorable Prime Minister from space. I was not feeling well that day. I was sitting there thinking with the Indian flag behind me when I realized… Until that moment, our flag had never been inside the International Space Station… The radio check was in Hindi. You are in space, traveling at 8 km per second, with your flag behind you, preparing to talk to the leader of your country. In that 10-minute break before the conversation, it suddenly hit me – the enormity of what was happening. This is a very big thing. I was feeling very excited, because this is your country’s representation on the global stage.
Sharat: The most beautiful thing was PM Modi asking whether Gajar ka halwa was served?
Shubhanshu: Yes, he also became quite famous. Food is a very important aspect on the International Space Station. Imagine you are confined to a 1BHK house, and you can’t go out for the next six months. So food becomes a relief for you. There is a lab, DFRL, which is making it for Gaganyaan, so we offered to take our stuff. Carrot halwa, moong dal halwa and aamras reached there and everyone enjoyed it very much. We submitted more items, but these three were selected through NASA’s approval process.
Sharat: When you met the Honorable Prime Minister after your return, what was the conversation?
Shubhanshu: From the moment I walked in, when I met him, to the first handshake, until that meeting ended, the feeling was very different. I mean, I was very comfortable. He himself made me very comfortable and was also very happy. I still remember that conversation. I shared great stories.
We talked about many things and I was told 20-25 minutes, but I think we discussed things for about an hour. So the Prime Minister was also very curious to know about some things, like how things are in space, nature, everything is very different there, so we talked about those things. The conversation then turned to what we have to do, or what our vision is, where we want to go.
He (PM) said, ‘I want our country to have a pool of 40-50 astronauts.’ A thriving ecosystem for human spaceflight missions, that we’re constantly managing the space station, conducting missions, then we go on to long-duration missions, go to the moon.
Sharat: During that call, PM Modi also gave you homework?
Shubhanshu: Yes absolutely. When I came back they also checked with me whether I did this or not. So I assured him and I think he also has a very clear understanding of where he wants to see India in the space sector in the future.
Sharat: Your colleagues said, ‘Do ask Shubhanshu about the incident in Jodhpur, when he had a close shave.’ what was that?
Shubhanshu: There is a very good saying in the aviation community – there are bold pilots and there are old pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.
So, this incident happened that one day I went for air test flight. You do not take any external fuel tank in it. I was flying MiG-21 Bison at that time. So I remember I came back for landing, and then got a call from ATC that something had happened and we had to go towards Udaipur.
After flying 40 km I got a call again saying no, the runway is still available. I returned, but again had a small accident, and had to go again (towards Udaipur) due to low fuel. There was another pilot who had also diverted so he also had to be taken care of. Eventually, when I touched down, my needle was at zero. And when I was taking off from the runway, the engine stopped automatically. I had that kind of margin at that time. So that was a close, close shave.
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