From space station, Shukla leaves children mesmerised

When Shuchi Mishra saw her brother floating in the International Space Station during their video call on Thursday, she recognised something familiar. “I felt a similar spark in his eyes as I used to see when he was a child,” she said of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. “He was curious, exploring everything and wanting to show us everything.”

- Godhooli Sharma

The tele-bridge connection had brought the Shukla family face to face with their astronaut son and brother for the first time since his launch on June 25. His mother Asha was overwhelmed as Shubhanshu guided them through his orbital home, showing them how he lived, ate, and even slept floating against walls in a sleeping bag. His father Shambu Dayal watched with a mixture of pride and relief—the first three days had been difficult for his son as he adapted to weightlessness.

“We are happy that he is now in a healthy zone because he found it difficult to adapt in the first three days,” Mishra said. The family had experienced their own form of weightlessness during the call, watching their loved one demonstrate life 400 kilometres above Earth. “When the call ended, we could only say that he is our hero.”

On Thursday, Group Captain Shukla held live video conferences from the ISS, speaking with his family in Lucknow and with hundreds of school students.