‘Aaj bhi… saare jahan se accha’: Shukla shares pride in India post-ISS mission

New Delhi: Thrilled after completing a successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla on Thursday expressed hope that someone from India would soon travel to space "from our own capsule, from our rocket, from our soil".

Speaking at a press conference, Shukla described the first-hand experience aboard the ISS as invaluable—far surpassing any amount of training received prior to the mission.

Referencing the iconic words of Rakesh Sharma, India’s first astronaut, Shukla remarked that India still appears “saare jahaan se achcha” (better than the entire world), echoing the sentiment first voiced in 1984.

Reflecting on his time during the Axiom-4 Mission, he said the insights gained would prove extremely beneficial for India’s upcoming Gaganyaan mission, and that the past year had been full of rich learning.

“No matter how much training you have done, even after that, when you sit in the rocket and the engines ignite, when they catch fire, I think it is a very different feeling", he added. 

“I had not imagined how it would feel, and I was actually running behind the rocket for the first few seconds, and it took me some time to catch up to it. From that moment until the time we splashed down, the experience was unbelievable. It was so exciting and so amazing that I have really been struggling to find words to convey it to you, so that you can live that experience through my words,” he said.

Shubhanshu also shared his hope for India’s future space missions, sharing an inspiring message for children. “If I can do this, you can do it too. We have to keep moving forward from here, one mission after another,” he said. He encouraged them to dream, promising that “together we will make it happen.”

PTI