Astronaut 634: Shux blends science, sweets and space

The name 'Shux'. Orbital flight number 634. Sleeping quarters: Dragon. And on the menu: Gajar ka halwa, moong dal halwa, and aam ras.

- SHINE JACOB Chennai, 2 July

These personal details, both technical and cultural, could soon take their place in history books as symbols of India's return to human spaceflight, after a 41-year break.

Orbiting some 400 kilometers above Earth's surface at a speed of 8 kilometers per second, completing 16 orbits a day, Shubhanshu Shukla — 'Shux' to his crewmates — is now firmly embedded in the rhythms of life aboard the International Space Station (ISS). His first seven days on the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) have combined science, ceremony, and moments of levity — from critical biomedical research to lighthearted exchanges over Indian sweets with the ISS Expedition 73 crew, and a nationally significant conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shukla's journey began on June 25 with a launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He flew aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a Dragon capsule, as part of Ax-4. On June 26, the capsule docked with the ISS. A few hours earlier, the crew participated in an in-flight event from orbit, during which Shukla — one of the astronauts chosen for India's own human space flight programme, the Gaganyaan — described his excitement at seeing Earth from above while flying over Europe.

When Dragon finally latched onto the orbiting laboratory, NASA's Expedition 73 team welcomed the Ax-4 crew with a ceremonial flourish. Ax-4 commander Peggy Whitson presented astronaut lapel pins and assigned orbital flight numbers. Shukla received the golden pin in recognition of having flown to space and was designated orbital flight number 634 — making him the 634th person to travel around Earth in a spacecraft.