Finally, India's Gaganyatri inside iconic cupola of ISS

New Delhi: Smilingand beaming, looking healthy and happy, India's own Gaganyatri Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla looks out of the famous cupola of the International Space Station (ISS).

Group Captain Shukla reached the ISS on June 26 on a 14-day mission and is now completing his assigned scientific tasks. He earlier told Prime Minister Narendra Modi he sees no borders from space.

Axiom Space says the crew - commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu "Shux" Shukla, and mission specialists Slawosz "Suave" Uznanski-Wisniewski and Tibor Kapu - have now completed nine productive days aboard the ISS.

Since their arrival, the crew has been fully dedicated to their packed schedule of scientific research, technology demonstrations, and global outreach. Each day has marked steady progress toward accomplishing mission objectives as the crew contributes to experiments that could shape the future of space exploration and benefit life on Earth.

When PM Modi asked about his first thoughts upon seeing space, Group Captain Shukla shared a profound realisation: "From space, you don't see any borders. The Earth looks united." He emphasised the vastness of India, which appears much larger from orbit than on a map, and spoke of the deep sense of unity and shared humanity that space evokes.

On July 3 and 4, Group Captain Shukla had participated in outreach events with schoolchildren in Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru and his own alma mater, City Montessori School in Lucknow, where over 500 students had a direct interaction with Group Captain Shukla. But till date the Human Space Flight Center (HSFC) of ISRO has not released any of the videos of the heart-warming interactions he may have had in this space to Earth bridge.