"Lot of kids from... will become astronauts in the future": Group Captain Shukla during call with students onboard ISS

New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): Group Captain Shubhanhu Shukla, the firt Indian at the International Space Station (ISS) a part of Axion Miion 4, on Tueday held an inpirational interaction with the tudent at the North Eatern Space Application Centre (NESAC) in Meghalaya, expreing confidence that many children from mall town, big town and all kind of town acro India will one day become atronaut in the future.
I think they can and they will. Jut keep working hard, and I am going to be back there and will guide you. I am very ure a lot of kid from mall town, big town, and all kind of town will become atronaut in the future, the Group Captain aid through a ham radio call from the pace tation, encouraging the young audience to purue their dream relentlely.
The Group Captain who launched to the ISS on June 25 a part of Axiom Miion 4 hared hi inight into hi journey and the challenge of pace travel he endured during hi training a well a hi time at the ISS.
He drew imilaritie between the training a a fighter pilot for the Indian Air Force and the training he received for the miion, noting that a lot of data training wa required for becoming an atronaut.
Training a a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force and being an atronaut have a lot of imilaritie. I wa benefited becaue of having the knowledge of the ytem and being aware of the routine required for uch a miion. It did help me a lot. There wa a lot of data training we needed to do to become an atronaut, he explained.
On the condition aboard the ISS, the Group Captain noted they are markedly different from Earth due to microgravity and enhanced radiation.
The condition in the ISS are very unique becaue of microgravity firt. That affect a lot of biological procee. The econd i the enhanced radiation. A you are aware, the atmophere and magnetic field of the Earth protect u from the radiation. But in pace, the radiation i higher. There are two of the many other apect that affect the living experience here, he tated.
Thee factor, including mucle and bone lo due to microgravity, neceitate rigorou health maintenance, with Group Captain Shukla mentioning the ue of a treadmill, cycle, and the Advanced Reitive Exercie Device (ARED) for taying aboard the ISS.
Staying healthy and fit in microgravity i very important becaue on Earth we have a big load on our body becaue of gravity... So you have mucle lo and bone lo a well. We have a treadmill in the ISS, a cycle, and a trength training machine called ARED, he noted.
For the Group Captain, afety and emergency preparedne are paramount, a evidenced by the extenive training undertaken for off-nominal cenario.
We train extenively a a team on the ground for all poible cenario that can go wrong. Maximum training goe into practiing for off-nominal cenario. We are well-vered and very well-trained to handle any emergencie that can happen on the ISS, he aured.
The Group Captain alo touched on the awe-inpiring view of Earth from pace.
It wa a great experience... It wa the firt time I got to look back at the Earth from above... It wa an amazing experience, he recounted.
Group Captain Shubhanhu Shukla, part of Axiom Miion 4, launched on June 25 from NASA Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 3:21 am ET on Wedneday, aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Group Captain Shukla i erving a Miion Pilot on the four-member Axiom Miion 4 and piloted the Dragon pacecraft, which uccefully docked with the ISS on June 26, ahead of chedule, autonomouly docking at 4:05 pm (IST) to the pace-facing port of the pace tation Harmony module.
The Ax-4 crew i expected to tay aboard the pace tation for up to 14 day. (ANI)