Shubhanshu Shukla says excitement to do more experiments posing difficulty to fall asleep
'I am doing a lot of experiments and these are challenging and exciting. All of these experiments have been planned by ISRO-NASA. But there are a few that I particularly like, especially the one on stem cells. We know there is limited time (onboard the ISS) but we want to do more and more (experiments). But we need to get rest to do the experiments,' said Shukla, along with demonstrating maneuvers and space-moves to be done to get tasks done. He also showed students his sleeping bag.
Shukla was live on ham radio for less than ten minutes when the ISS was passing close to the horizon around 3.47pm on Friday, July 4.
The ham radio communication was made to the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru via telebridge (partly phone-partly ham connection), with the ground station located in Greenbelt, Maryland, US. Shukla was given a set of select questions prepared by students from all over India, who were shortlisted under three categories. Nearly 145 students joined live from Thiruvananthapuram and a similar number connected from Lucknow and Bengaluru.
As the ISS orbits the Earth at an average speed of over 27,000 km/hr making 16 orbits/day, the best possible bandwidth for establishing ham radio communication generally lasts for just five to eight minutes.
Shukla's voice was filled with excitement as he took on the questions and gave quick, short answers each ending with 'over' — hinting at the next question he was proceeding to take up. Shukla spoke about the ride onboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon on June 25, the tiny capsule, the accelerating speeds and the one-and-a-half days of 'floating' in space till docking at the ISS and how his body faced hardships in adapting to the new conditions in space.
The Axiom-4 mission is led by NASA, in partnership with ISRO and the European Space Agency. On the role of this international collaboration, Shukla said: ' I think international collaboration is the key for the success of a mission to the ISS and space. Even for our mission, Axiom-4, ISRO, NASA and ESA… everyone came together to make this mission happen. I have realised the power of global collaboration. Working with many people of different nationalities is an entirely exciting experience. So definitely, global collaboration is the key and I look forward to more such missions.'
Indian food also touched 'new heights' with Shukla's Ax-4. He is carrying with him three delicacies – aamaras, moong dal halwa, and gajar halwa.
'These foods were prepared by ISRO in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (ISRO). I shared these foods with everybody and they loved and appreciated it.'
The Earth's view from space, Shukla said, was the most beautiful one from onboard the ISS.
'The most exciting part about being in space is looking back at earth from the vantage point. It is big, very beautiful and reminded me of how fortunate we are to be on this planet. It is also a realisation of how important this planet is with everything we have.'
Shukla will make the second and final communication using ham radio at 2.08pm on July 8 with the Human Spaceflight Center at the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) in Meghalaya.
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