Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and others inside the International Space Station
- Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla carried carrot halwa, moong dal halwa, and mango nectar
- They will spend 14 days on the ISS conducting around 60 scientific experiments
- This mission is a key step towards India's first independent crewed mission aimed for launch in 2027
Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts successfully docked their Dragon spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS) this evening.
As they entered the space station, they were greeted by the 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 ISS.
Visuals beamed from the ISS showed the four astronauts who had just arrived enjoying a healthy drink and laughing.
Group Captain Shukla carried carrot halwa, moong dal halwa, and mango nectar with him to satiate his cravings for homemade food in space.
The other three astronauts who lifted off as part of the Axiom Mission 4 mission are Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, and Dr Peggy Whitson of the US.
The capsule, the fifth and final Dragon in Elon Musk-owned company SpaceX fleet, was christened "Grace" after reaching orbit.
The crew will spend 14 days aboard the ISS, conducting some 60 experiments -- including studies on microalgae, sprouting salad seeds, and the hardiness of microscopic tardigrades in space.
Group Captain Shukla is the second Indian to reach space since Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (retired), who flew to the Salyut 7 station in 1984 as part of an Indo-Soviet mission.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sees this flight as a key step toward India's first independent crewed mission, slated for 2027 under the Gaganyaan programme.
