New Delhi: India’s celebrated astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla said with a smile on Tuesday that the “homework given by PM Narendra Modi ‘pura hua hai, chal raha hai, aur badta hi ja raha hai’ (has been completed, yet it is still going on as the scope of the homework is increasing by the day)”. On a serious note, Shux said that results of the seven Isro-devised microgravity experiments conducted by him on ISS during his 18-day stay there are being analysed after samples of his work have come back to Earth in batches, and that learnings from his ISS mission are being used for Gaganyaan planning.Speaking on the sidelines of India International Space Conclave organised by Indian Space Association (ISpA) here, Shukla told TOI, “For me, bigger learning from the seven experiments has been how to conduct these tests in space because it is easy to conduct such experiments on Earth, but difficult to do them there. Whatever experience I gained on ISS, we have made a template of that. We are now comparing what we were doing earlier (in Gaganyaan programme) with what is happening now, to identify the gaps.”On progress on India’s spaceflight mission, Shux said, “Gaganyaan is a developmental programme — training and development are happening together. As per my knowledge, Gaganyaan-G1 (uncrewed mission) will be conducted early next year and Gaganyaan-G2 (uncrewed mission with humanoid Vyommitra) will be in early 2027.” Shux said he has shared his ISS experiences with three other Indian astronaut-candidates — Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan and Angad Pratap — as they have been training together. Shux, who is also a seasoned IAF test pilot, said, “As part of our training, I have to go back to flying fighter jets, which I will do in December.”He said, “When you cross the boundary of space (Karman line), you are given a number, and I was No. 634, which is not a top number to remember”. But when I came back, kids told me: “We didn’t know that there was an ISS in space before you went. We cared because you were there.”Urging the youth to dream big, he added, “We are in the golden age as far as space exploration is concerned. I want all youngsters to be focused and contribute to the space sector actively. Every boy or girl of India who dreams of becoming an astronaut can realise their dream in today’s India. We have established extremely ambitious goals — Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035, human landing on Moon by 2040 and Viksit Bharat by 2047 — but for us to achieve that, all of us have to be active participants. Sky was never the limit. Not for me, not for you and not for Bharat.”Space minister Jitendra Singh, who was the chief guest at the conference, said, “Space reforms in the last five years have been a turning point. Earlier, our space economy was dispersed and was not even considered a part of the economy. Today, the Indian space economy is worth $8 billion and the pace at which it is moving, the projection is that in the next 10 years, it will go up to $44-45 billion. In times to come, space is going to be an important contributor to the growth of India’s economy as we move up the ranks.”
