‘Namaskar from house’: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla greets from capsule earlier than reaching ISS

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla on Thursday (June 26, 2025) mentioned he was studying to stay in microgravity circumstances “like a child” and it was a tremendous expertise to drift in vacuum because the Dragon spacecraft circled the Earth in its journey to dock on the Worldwide Area Station.

Earlier than reaching worldwide house station, astronaut Shukla greeted the folks with ‘Namaskar from house’ from Dragon spacecraft.

Sharing his expertise by way of a videolink from the spacecraft, Shukla mentioned after remaining in quarantine for 30 days, the place he was distant from all the joy, forward of the launch of the Axiom-4 mission on Wednesday, “the one thought in my thoughts was to allow us to simply go”.

Shukla and three different astronauts lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Area Centre in Florida on board the Dragon spacecraft, powered by the Falcon-9 rocket for a 14-day keep on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS).

The astronauts, a part of the Axiom-4 business mission, are anticipated to dock on the ISS at 4:30 pm on Thursday.

“Wow, what a trip it was. Frankly, once I was sitting within the capsule Grace, yesterday on the launchpad, the one thought in my thoughts was let’s simply go. After 30 days of quarantine, it was a sense that I simply wished to go. Pleasure and all was very distant. There was simply this sense that permit us simply depart,” Shukla mentioned.

The brand new Dragon spacecraft of SpaceX has been named Grace by the astronauts.

He additionally launched ‘Pleasure’, a toy swan that’s the zero gravity indicator, and the fifth “crew member” on the Axiom-4 mission.

Sharing his expertise of encountering the gravitational power in the course of the launch, Shukla mentioned he felt like being pushed again in his seat.

“However when the trip began, it was one thing. You had been getting pushed again within the seat. It was a tremendous trip after which abruptly nothing. The whole lot was silent and also you had been simply floating. You had been unbuckled and simply floating within the silence of vacuum,” he mentioned.

Shukla mentioned the primary few moments after they acquired shot into the vacuum didn’t really feel that nice, however quickly it was “a tremendous feeling”.

He added that his fellow astronauts have advised him that he has been sleeping lots for the reason that launch on Wednesday.

“I get used to it fairly properly. I’m having fun with the views, having fun with the expertise and studying like a child. Studying the brand new steps, studying easy methods to stroll, studying easy methods to management your self, studying easy methods to eat. It’s simply so thrilling,” Shukla mentioned.

“It’s a new surroundings, a brand new problem and I’m actually having fun with this expertise with my fellow astronauts right here. It’s good to make errors, however it’s higher to see any individual else do this too. So it has been a enjoyable time,” Shukla mentioned.