Watch: Pride and joy for Shubhanshu Shukla’s parents as son creates history

India Today

A wave of joy and pride swept through Lucknow as Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla made history with the Axiom-4 mission, launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre on Wednesday.    Hailing from Uttar Pradesh’s capital, the Indian Air Force officer is set to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the historic mission.    Shukla’s father, Shambhu Dayal, said his son’s journey is a moment of immense pride, not just for Lucknow, but for the entire nation.

Transcript

00:00The SpaceX rocket, the Falcon 9 rocket, is going to return back to a landing deck.

00:05Almost as if, you know, it defies physics.

00:07It's going to return back using its engines to ensure a perfect soft landing.

00:13I want to show you these images.

00:14This is of Group Captain Subhansha Shukla's parents.

00:18Very emotional, understandably so.

00:20And I think I can speak for every Indian when I say that we're feeling exactly the same way,

00:25the same rush of emotions.

00:27What a moment it is for him, for his family, for his country.

00:33You can see that written all over the faces of his family members, of his parents.

00:38That's Group Captain Shukla's father, his mother as well.

00:42The moment the launch happened, you could see his mother breaking down.

00:46And it's completely understandable.

00:48I cannot imagine the emotions that she's going through.

00:50I'm sure it's of pride.

00:52I'm sure it was also a bit of being nervous for her son's safety, excitement at the same time.

01:00That this is history that her son is part of, has been picked for, and living the dream of every single Indian right now.

01:08This is a view that you're seeing right now that's being shown to us by SpaceX.

01:16Another angle after the separation took place of how really it's being propelled,

01:21the Dragon capsule is being propelled right up to the International Space Station.

01:26It is in those final moments.

01:28At about 4 p.m. tomorrow is when the docking at the ISS will happen.

01:31And that time, it will be up to Group Captain Shukla to ensure the perfect maneuver to dock into the ISS.

01:39These are the multiple images that we're getting right now.

01:44And you see there, that is the moment of the Falcon rocket coming back to base.

01:51It's dark, so you're not able to see really in complete clarity.

01:54But with the ball of fire, you can see the touchdown of the Falcon 9 rocket.

01:58So the Falcon 9 rocket, a reusable one, this is the second mission it's been used in,

02:03is back to base, which means it can be used once again by SpaceX.

02:07Imagine the cost-cutting that's happened as a result of that.

02:10You've saved so much on resources by building a reusable rocket,

02:15something that was achieved just this year and already being used in so many missions,

02:19including a manned mission like this one.

02:21And ultimately, the agencies here are all involved.

02:25And I've been repeating this, that this is a collaborative effort.

02:28SpaceX, NASA, Axiom, ISRO, ESA, the European Space Agency,

02:32they've all come together to ensure so far the launch has been successful,

02:38that everything was planned to the T.

02:40All predictions were exactly how it turned out to be.

02:43And that's what ensured that moment at 2.31 a.m. Eastern time,

02:48at 12.01 p.m. Indian time, that launch took place as planned.

02:53And what a beautiful image and image that no doubt will be etched in every Indian mind

02:58for the coming many, many years,

03:01as we will hope that this paves the way for so many more Indians to go to space to live their dream.

03:09And look at those pictures in the middle of his screens there,

03:11of Group Captain Shukla's parents celebrating.

03:14What a beautiful image.

03:16They must be so proud, so relieved, too, I'm sure, at the successful launch.

03:21For his family, it's been a very, very exciting time, I'm sure.

03:25Remember, his son, his four-year-old son and his wife have been based in Florida for the last one month

03:31while he's been in quarantine, they got a chance to wave goodbye to him

03:36just as he was making his way to the launch pad earlier today, about five hours before launch.

03:43And you see those moments, there was emotion in the family,

03:46all of them hugging it out, celebrating the fact that it was a successful launch.

03:51I'm sure they're going to be watching every update that comes in in the next few days

03:55on what Group Captain Shukla is doing based on the experiments he'll conduct

03:59on the big learnings also for him.

04:02His mother is visibly emotional, wiping away her tears right after the launch took place.

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