Mysuru school students to connect with astronaut shukla today
This is a rare and prestigious opportunity that allows students to establish direct communication with the ISS using amateur radio frequencies and will take place through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) initiative in coordination with the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru.
The contact will be made using amateur radio transceivers configured to uplink and downlink signals through the ARISS ground station infrastructure, allowing students to engage in Q&A from Earth to space, via RF transmissions. The interaction will occur as part of a global network of scheduled ARISS school contacts that introduce young learners to space science, communications technology, and orbital research.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
From space station, Shukla leaves children mesmerised
When Shuchi Mishra saw her brother floating in the International Space Station during their video call on Thursday, she recognised something familiar. 'I felt a similar spark in his eyes as I used to see when he was a child,' she said of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. 'He was curious, exploring everything and wanting to show us everything.' The tele-bridge connection had brought the Shukla family face to face with their astronaut son and brother for the first time since his launch on June 25. His mother Asha was overwhelmed as Shubhanshu guided them through his orbital home, showing them how he lived, ate, and even slept floating against walls in a sleeping bag. His father Shambu Dayal watched with a mixture of pride and relief—the first three days had been difficult for his son as he adapted to weightlessness. 'We are happy that he is now in a healthy zone because he found it difficult to adapt in the first three days,' Mishra said. The family had experienced their own form of weightlessness during the call, watching their loved one demonstrate life 400 kilometres above Earth. 'When the call ended, we could only say that he is our hero.' On Thursday, Group Captain Shukla held live video conferences from the ISS, speaking with his family in Lucknow and with hundreds of school students. During the calls, he demonstrated daily life in microgravity, discussed the physical challenges of space adaptation, and shared details about eating, sleeping, and exercising in weightlessness. The first minutes after launch had felt 'as if somebody pushed him hard on his seat,' Shukla told students during a separate video conference from his family. The subsequent days brought nausea and disorientation as his brain struggled to interpret motion without the gravitational cues it had relied upon for 39 years. His face had grown puffy as blood redistributed in microgravity, no longer pulled downward by Earth's relentless tug. But by Thursday, speaking to over 500 students gathered at City Montessori School in Lucknow and others assembled in Thiruvananthapuram, Shukla had found his orbital rhythm. He described a day measured not by Earth's single sunrise but by sixteen, each orbit bringing another dawn and dusk in the span of 90 minutes. The students listened, mesmerised, as he explained how astronauts eat food in paste form to prevent crumbs from floating into sensitive equipment, and how water comes in spill-proof bottles with straws. 'The food we eat on Earth, for example a roti, cannot be eaten there as it can get in the suction pump in the ISS,' ten-year-old Divyansh Agrawal recounted after the call. The boy had been struck by Shukla's explanation of how a whole team on Earth decides what astronauts can safely consume in space. Shatakshi Srivastava, a ninth-grade student, was fascinated by Shukla's tour of the exercise equipment designed to combat muscle loss. 'They have a couple of machines including a treadmill which they use while tying themselves to something and a cycle-like machine with no seat where they can pedal,' she said. The image that lingered most was Shukla's casual observation that he could sleep anywhere—ceiling, wall, wherever—simply by getting inside a sleeping bag and tying himself to something solid. In Kerala, students selected from across the state based on their academic performance had gathered at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre for their own ten-minute window with the astronaut. 'He spoke about space travel, food, how he spends his free time at the space station, and the scientific experiments conducted there,' said Aditya, according to PTI. 'He also encouraged us to stay curious to learn and excel in science.' Between conducting experiments and equipment maintenance, Shukla told students he finds moments to watch Earth pass beneath the station's windows. For the Shukla family, watching their son and brother adapt to life in space had been 'electrifying and beyond our imagination,' as Mishra put it. (With PTI inputs)
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
From eating to sleeping in space: Shubhanshu Shukla answers students from ISS
Space intrigues all, especially children. So when the students of different schools here got the opportunity to talk to astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, who is onboard the International Space Station (ISS), they relished it. Shubhanshu Shukla also described the launch experience of the Axiom Mission 4 from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 25. (ANI) What do astronauts eat? How does one sleep in space? What happens if someone falls sick there? How does the body adjust to space, and how much would it take to readjust on Earth? From his orbital post on the ISS, Shukla enthusiastically gave detailed answers to these questions posed by the students who had assembled at the City Montessori School here. The students also sought to know about the benefits of the space programme and what part of the space visit is most enjoyable. During the interaction, Shukla, the first Indian to reach the ISS, described the launch experience of the Axiom Mission 4 from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 25 as "amazing" and "dynamic". About the question on sleeping arrangements while in space, he said, "It is fun actually because in space there is no floor and no ceiling. So if you were to come and visit the station (ISS), you would find someone sleeping on the walls, someone on the ceiling." "It is so easy to float up and tie yourself to the ceiling. The challenge is to be found at the same place where you slept at night and to ensure that we tie our sleeping bags to ensure we don't float away to some other place," Shukla said. A student said that when asked what happens if someone falls ill in space, the astronaut replied that they carry they carry adequate medicines in case things go wrong. During the interaction, Group Captain Angad Pratap, who is part of India's maiden manned space mission Gaganyaan, was in Lucknow to create awareness among the youth about space programmes. The student interaction was part of ISRO's Vidyarthi Samvad Programme. Shukla, who is the first Indian to reach the ISS, is also one of the four astronaut-designates for Gaganyaan. A student said that Shukla told them that astronauts hardly get any free time. "But they do watch things or play some sports," he said. "However, one thing that astronauts look forward to is to go out and gaze into space and take a good view of the Earth -- it is very beautiful," a student, who was part of the interaction, told PTI. Talking about the challenges of getting the body readjusted back on Earth, Shukla told his audience that the biggest challenge is the absence of gravity. "Space is a new situation for the body. So like today, I am feeling much better from what I was feeling on day one here," the astronaut said. "My body has now kind of adapted to microgravity, but when I return to Earth, my body would have to readapt to gravity. This is a challenge again, and this adaptation will be required on re-entering Earth. A lot of preparations and procedures are required because space is a very dynamic place," he added. Asked what astronauts eat, Shukla said that most of the food is pre-packaged, and adequate care is taken to ensure that they have enough nutrition. Food becomes one of the main sources of motivation or pleasure in space, he said. "Different food items are laid down and astronauts get to taste all of those and whatever they prefer is packed," said Shukla, who during his interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told him that he had carried desserts like Gazar Ka Halwa, Moong Dal Ka Halwa and Aam Ras with him to space. A student wanted to know his take on the effect that space has on mental health. At this, Shukla, while admitting challenges, added that modern technology has ensured that astronauts get to connect with family and friends. "It helps a lot," he said. Another student said, "He told us that he finds such interactions immensely rewarding because this shows us the future we have and the possibilities that exist, so that we can see what lies ahead of us, and this is what we have to aim at." Wing Commander Pratap told the students in Lucknow to stay motivated for the next couple of decades, which will witness immense possibilities unfolding for human spaceflight in India. He spoke of the exciting and challenging career in aerospace sciences. "It was all so exciting. Group Captain Shubhanshu explained the varied nuances, challenges, and excitement of space travel, while Wing Commander Pratap motivated us to devote ourselves to science," a student said. "Among other things, we could either become researchers or join the armed forces as an experimental test pilot for an exciting and challenging career." Among other things, Wing Commander Pratap highlighted the traits of Shukla, with positivity being the key one. Another student said that when asked about how one stays fit in space where microgravity comes in play, Shukla said, "On Earth, we always have loading on our body due to gravity and the muscles are always utilised while walking, sitting, or even standing." "But that is not the case in microgravity, as one suffers muscle loss. It is very important for astronauts to keep exercising," Shukla told the students and spoke of his exercise routine. "There is a bicycle that we exercise on. Interestingly, there is no seat on the cycle because in microgravity, you are floating. So you just lock on to the pedals, tie yourself to the belt and then you start exercising. "There is also an exercise machine in which you can do all forms of exercises," he told the students while also demonstrating how one moves in space.
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Time to retire the ISS? Musk pushes for Mars as next big space destination
Elon Musk has once again stirred the space debate with call to retire the International Space Station (ISS). The SpaceX CEO shared a post on X detailing the space-related funding from US President Donald Trump's latest tax bill, which includes $1.25 billion for the ISS. Musk said, 'It's time to retire the Space Station and focus on Mars.' ELON MUSK 'It's time to retire the Space Station and focus on Mars.' — Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) July 3, 2025 The same bill also sets aside $325 million for the safe deorbiting of the ISS by 2030 — an acknowledgement that the end of its mission may be near. Why Musk believes the ISS has outlived its purpose Musk has long been vocal about his view that the ISS no longer offers sufficient return on investment. According to him, its aging infrastructure — many parts of which are over 20 years old — poses a growing maintenance challenge and limits its scientific output. He argues that continued funding for the station pulls resources away from bigger priorities, namely, sending humans to Mars. For Musk, Mars is not just the next frontier but a crucial lifeboat for humanity's future. In his vision, planetary colonisation is essential, and all efforts — including financial ones — should now be directed toward that goal. A viral glimpse of the red planet Elon Musk's Mars ambitions are not just limited to statements. In February this year, he reignited public interest by sharing an AI-generated video on X, showcasing a futuristic city on Mars. The one-minute, 12-second clip, captioned 'Welcome to Mars', featured an advanced Martian settlement and quickly went viral. Welcome to Mars — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2025 A long-standing obsession with Mars Musk has never hidden his ambitions for a multi-planetary future. At the 2016 Recode Code Conference, he said, 'If things go according to plan, we should be able to launch people probably in 2024 with arrival in 2025,' referring to his plans to send humans to Mars. Aging infrastructure and deorbit plans In July 2024, Nasa had confirmed that the International Space Station (ISS) cannot remain in orbit indefinitely due to the effects of Earth's atmosphere, which causes gradual orbital decay even at its altitude of about 415 km (257 miles). Without regular reboosts, the ISS would naturally re-enter the atmosphere within one to two years, making a controlled deorbit essential to avoid the risk of debris falling on populated areas. The US space agency has evaluated various options for the station's end-of-life, including disassembly, boosting to a higher orbit, or transferring to commercial operators, but concluded that a controlled deorbit using a dedicated vehicle is the safest and only viable method. In 2024, Nasa selected SpaceX to develop this deorbit vehicle, which will guide the station to a remote part of the ocean at the end of its mission in 2030, minimising risks to people and property on Earth.
