Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently asked astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla about the “homework” he had assigned him, to which the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station smiled and replied, “Very good progress has been made, sir.”
The two met at the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi on Monday, where Indian Air Force Group Captain Shukla briefed PM Modi on his historic space mission and shared his experiences aboard the ISS.
Recalling the reactions of his colleagues, Mr Shukla said, “People laughed with me, and after that meeting they teased me, saying ‘your Prime Minister has given you homework’. But I did it, and it was very important, sir. Obviously, we were aware of it, that’s why I went. The mission was successful, sir, and we have returned. But this is not the end of the mission; it is only the beginning.”
Shukla spent 20 days in space, including 18 days aboard the ISS, docking on June 26 and returning to Earth on July 15. When asked about readjusting to Earth, he said, “The brain takes time to understand that we have to walk. It does take a while to adapt back to this environment. When I came back, I was not able to walk, and people had to hold me up.” He noted that a similar adjustment was needed when he first arrived at the ISS.
Onboard the station, Shukla conducted experiments on tardigrades, myogenesis, cyanobacteria, microalgae, and crop seeds, including sprouting Indian staples like moong and fenugreek. He highlighted the seed experiments, saying, “That was very good, sir. I was very surprised that people there didn’t know about these things. Food is a very big challenge on a space station. Space is limited, cargo is expensive. The goal is always to pack the most nutrition and calories in the smallest space. These seeds are very easy to grow. Just a small dish with water, and in eight days they had sprouted.”
He described them as India’s “little secrets,” noting that such simple crops could help support astronauts in space and address food security on Earth.
Shukla added that over the past year, people were eager to meet him and were curious about India’s progress in space. Many already knew about India’s growing role in space exploration and asked detailed questions about the Gaganyaan mission, sometimes knowing more about its timeline than he did.
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