Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, who will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket as part of the Axiom-4 mission, plans to carry a few Indian dishes with him. Since Indian food is usually quite spicy, he received approval to take a few sweet and non-spicy items.
Shukla, who is set to fly with other astronauts tomorrow, June 11, will take food items like moong dal halwa, rice, and aamras. It is to be noted that the mission was originally scheduled for today, but it was postponed due to bad weather conditions.
Moong dal halwa to rice
“He is carrying moong dal halwa, gajar ka halwa, aamras and rice…. Since Indian food is high on spices, he wasn’t getting permission to carry them. But finally, they did allow a few varieties,” HT quoted his sister, Suchi Shukla, as saying.
She added that he is excited to share the delicacies with fellow astronauts.
Suchi also shared that her brother is in quarantine and is both nervous and excited about the mission, before adding that he hopes that this mission will “motivate” the upcoming generations.
“He has been quarantined for a fortnight now, but once a day, he joins us for a group call, as his wife, Dr Kamna Shubha Shukla, and five-year-old son are with him in Florida. We are all so excited, but also very nervous,” she added.
Shubhanshu Shukla’s upcoming journey into space marks a historic moment for India as it returns to human spaceflight after 41 years. The last one was Rakesh Sharma’s iconic mission aboard the Soviet Soyuz in 1984. Shukla, who is from Lucknow, is part of the Axiom-4 mission, a commercial spaceflight led by Axiom Space with support from both ISRO and NASA. The mission features only government-sponsored astronauts.