Seeds of India in space: Shubanshu Shukla to sprout methi, moong aboard ISS under ISRO-NASA mission

New Delhi: Shubhanshu Shukla is poised to become the second Indian to travel to space, four decades after Rakesh Sharma, as he joins Axiom Space's fourth commercial mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch, scheduled for June 8, will take place onboard SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The Dragon spacecraft is set for lift-off no earlier than 6:41 pm IST. Once in orbit, the astronauts are expected to spend up to 14 days aboard the ISS, conducting a wide range of scientific and commercial activities.

Besides Shukla, who serves as the mission pilot, the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew includes Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. This marks the first-ever ISS journey for both European nations and only their second government-sponsored human spaceflight in more than four decades. Veteran US astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the mission.

Shukla’s role in the mission is supported by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), in collaboration with NASA. He is scheduled to carry out a range of exclusive food and nutrition-related experiments with the goal of advancing self-sustaining life support systems crucial for future long-duration space travel.

Experiments

ISRO has lined up seven experiments for Shukla, while he will also take part in five joint studies under NASA’s human research programme. Among the India-focused experiments are studies on sprouting fenugreek (methi) and green gram (moong) in microgravity. The seeds will be exposed to space conditions and later cultivated on Earth over multiple generations.

‘Journey of 1.4 billion people’

“I am really, really excited to go into microgravity and experience spaceflight on my own,” Shukla, who is known by the nickname ‘Shuks’, said at a press conference in January.

He stated that he planned to document his experiences aboard the ISS through pictures and videos: “I want them to share this thrilling experience through my eyes, for I truly believe that, even as an individual travelling to space, this is the journey of 1.4 billion people.”

Shukla also hopes to take select items from different regions of India and serve Indian food to fellow astronauts during the mission.

Shukla added that his experience on the Ax-4 mission would contribute significantly to India’s upcoming Gaganyaan mission, scheduled for 2027. The Indian government is investing Rs 550 crore in the Axiom-4 initiative.

The Ax-4 astronauts are expected to conduct around 60 scientific experiments representing 31 countries during their stay aboard the ISS.