Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission, said on Wednesday that the country is harbouring "big and bold dreams," having forayed into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, following the 18-day mission to ISS.
Interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics in Kolkata, he described space as a "great place to be," marked by deep peace and an "amazing view" that becomes more captivating with time.
A historic return to human spaceflight
Commenting on the significance of his mission, Shukla recalled the achievement of his predecessor: "Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian astronaut to go to space... There was no human space program in our country at that time. So we had to wait 41 years, when I went again this year in June and carried the flag to the International Space Station for the first time".
He highlighted a symbolic and proud moment:
"When I was interacting with the Prime Minister from the space station, for the first time, Hindi was being used on the International Space Station. That was very symbolic, and a proud moment for me".
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla added, noting on a lighter note that he "actually kind of did not want to come back”.
The overview effect and a change in perspective
Shukla explained that the hands-on experience in space was vastly different from his training. He elaborated that traveling to space changes one's perspective, leading astronauts to experience the "overview effect", which is a profound psychological shift.
He detailed this experience:
"By travelling to space, the perspective you get is very different... It was nothing as I had imagined. It highlights that this is the home we have. We don't have anything else... Whenever astronauts travel to space, they experience something known as the overview effect. This is an umbrella term for the change in thought process or psychological shift that astronauts experience in space, given their unique perspective. And for me, what that was, would be the oneness of the planet, the strong feeling that this is our home, not a particular place, not a particular region, not a particular city, not a particular country. But this, the entire Earth, that planet, that feels like your home".
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