How Shubhanshu Shukla Is Spending His 1st Day At International Space Station

Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla reached the International Space Station on Thursday evening (Indian time) aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket that shot off to space from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mr Shukla wrote a historic new chapter by becoming the first Indian to fly into the International Space Station and the second Indian to travel to space - four decades after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma made the cosmic journey as part of a Soviet mission in 1984.

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, also called 'Shux', landed at the ISS at 4:01 pm (IST). The ISS usually follows Greenwich/London time.

How Shubhhanshu Shukla is spending his 1st day in space:

As Group Captain Shukla and three other astronauts successfully docked their Dragon spacecraft at the ISS, they were greeted by a group of ISS astronauts who had been eagerly waiting for their safe arrival from Earth. The astronauts hugged each other and exchanged greetings as they settled inside the space station. They were also given a 'welcome' drink (a healthy beverage) as the astronauts shared hugs and laughs.

Soon after, Mr Shukla delivered a speech.

"I am feeling lightheaded. But that is not much of an issue compared to the things we will do here for the next 14 days. It is a very proud and exciting moment, a big step in our space journey," he said.

Mr Shukla then went through a mandatory safety briefing by the seven-member crew who were already onboard.

The Indian Astronaut would have had his first dinner in a joint sitting with all the 11 astronauts onboard (a seven-member crew who were already at the ISS and a four-member crew including Mr Shukla). Traditionally, the crew onboard the new crew has dinner together on the first day.

Hopefully, as Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma had suggested, Mr Shukla would have gone to the cupola of the ISS and would have had a good look at Mother Earth.

The Air Force pilot also had his first night of eight hours of sleep at the ISS.

Mr Shukla, who was feeling heavy in his head and had some space sickness (which is normal), would begin his morning ablutions. The astronauts get two hours for the ablutions every morning.

The day then begins for Mr Shukla - which is clocked almost minute by minute and would go on for a full 12 and a half hours. During this period, he would be conducting some experiments and would also have done some exercise at the gymnasium at the ISS to keep fit.

As the course of the day passes, he would have his first lunch at the ISS.

In the weightless condition of the football field-sized ISS, Mr Shukla would see 16 sunrises and sunsets from his vantage point - almost 400 km above Earth.

The journey begins for India's cosmic leap.

The Axiom 4 mission, which involves Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX, is historic for India, Poland, and Hungary - the three countries that sent their astronauts to space in decades.

On India's decision to send Mr Shukla, the second Indian, to space, American astrophysicist and writer Neil deGrasse Tyson had told NDTV that the journey could be seen as a part of a broader context of India's reach into space.

"While that (Rakesh Sharma's space flight) was kind of a one-off mission, right now, this voyage of an Indian astronaut can be seen as part of a broader context of India's reach into space and as a stepping stone, if you will, towards India having independent launches with its own astronauts as a nation going forward. And so, this has a little more significance than just a single astronaut gaining access to space. It has significance to the larger ambitions of India as a space-faring nation."