When astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla zips up his space suit for the Axiom-4 mission on June 11, he won't be just packing science experiments— but he will also be carrying aam ras, moong dal halwa, and gajar halwa! The 39-year-old Indian Air Force pilot is all set to be the second Indian in space, 41 years after Rakesh Sharma's historic flight.
Lifting off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 5:30 p.m. IST, Shukla — or ‘Shux' as he is fondly known — will head to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.
To ensure that Shubhanshu Shukla remains well-nourished during this mission, ISRO has teamed up with the Defence Research and Development Organisation to curate a selection of traditional Indian meals.
View this post on Instagram"Since Indian food is high on spices, he wasn't getting the permission to carry them. But finally, they did allow a few varieties," his sister Suchi Shukla, a science teacher in Lucknow, told Hindustan Times. "He is a fitness-freak and highly into yoga, so I am sure he will balance it," she added.
In the International Space Centre, Shukla will explore how sprouted salad seeds grow in microgravity as part of the "Sprouting Salad Seeds in Space" experiment—a collaborative project between ISRO, NASA, and BioServe.
The 39-year-old Indian Air Force pilot will head to the International Space Station along with three others. This comes 41 years after his idol Rakesh Sharma undertook a spaceflight in 1984 onboard erstwhile Soviet Union's Soyuz spacecraft for an eight-day stay in orbit.
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