Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma, who was the first Indian to orbit in space, shared a message for Shubhanshu Shukla and the other astronauts aboard the Axiom-4 mission. Sharma offered his blessings to the crew and asked them to spend as much time as possible looking out the window. 41 years later, Shukla is only the second Indian to conduct a human spaceflight.
Axiom Space released a short video on social media wherein family and friends of the four crew members were seen wishing them luck for the mission. In the video, there are several members from Shukla’s family, including his wife Kamna and six-year-old son. The video ends with Rakesh Sharma’s message that begins with ‘Greetings from India’.
Watch the full video below. Sharma's greeting comes at the end.
“Wishing you all the very best. To the crew, Godspeed, and spend as much time as possible looking out of the window. Have a fun time guys,” Sharma said. The full video can be seen below.
Rakesh Sharma, a former Indian Air Force officer, went to space in 1984 on the Soviet Soyuz mission. For the Axiom-4 mission, Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
Shukla’s parents were also seen getting emotional during the lift-off. His father told the press that ‘it was a very proud moment for the family’. The Indian astronaut also wrote an emotional note hours before his mission, thanking his wife for her unwavering support.
