Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, an Indian Air Force pilot, made history today by becoming the second Indian after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma to travel to space
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He is the first Indian to board the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a commercial space mission
Image: @iiscbangalore/X
The Axiom-4, carrying Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts, was successfully launched to the ISS on Wednesday
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Born and raised in Lucknow, Shukla completed his schooling at the City Montessori School's Aliganj campus
Photo: IANS/X/@SpaceX
He earned a BSc in Computer Science from NDA in 2005
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After which he underwent pilot training at the Indian Air Force Academy and was commissioned into the fighter stream in 2006
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IAF Group captain Shubhanshu Shukla with four-member crew ahead of Axiom 4 mission launch
Image: @SpaceX X/ANI Photo
Shukla was selected for India's Gaganyaan mission in 2019, which brought him into the astronaut training programme
He underwent training at the prestigious Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia, completing the course in 2021
Image: ANI
He continued his mission-specific training at the Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru, further honing his skills