President Murmu meets Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla after his ISS space journey

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Friday interacted with Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and discussed the latter’s successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS)—a first ever by an Indian.

The meeting, which took place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, saw Shukla apprising the President of his mission, in which the Indian astronaut played a key role as part of the crew.

The interaction came on the eve of planned celebrations of the second National Space Day on Saturday.

During the meeting with the President, Shukla was accompanied by Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair and Group Captain Punyashlok Biswal, along with Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space, Dr V Narayanan and by Director, Human Space Flight Centre, Dinesh Kumar Singh.

“The President extended her best wishes to the entire team for future endeavours, especially for the Gaganyaan Mission,” said a statement on X.

Earlier on August 19, Shukla met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and shared his experience in space.

Shukla also shared photos clicked from space and discussed experience with the Prime Minister—crucial for India's future space endeavours, especially the Gaganyaan mission—the country's first human spaceflight mission.

India is set to celebrate the second National Space Day on Saturday, honouring the country's journey from satellites to human spaceflight.

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, said on Friday in an X post that on August 23, under the leadership of PM Modi, India created history as the fourth nation to land on the Moon and the first at its South Pole—a moment that inspired the future.

IANS