Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla returned to Earth from space on Tuesday (July 15) after spending 14 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Shukla is the first Indian to step aboard the ISS and only the second Indian ever to travel to space.
Shukla shared a glimpse from his 14-day stay at the ISS on his Instagram handle, reflecting on how being ‘still’ in space is a challenge, and how he struggled during his attempt to stay still.
In the video he posted, Shukla can be seen practicing stillness while sitting in a cross-legged position. “This video was a few days into the mission when I finally had better control over my movements. What I wanted to do was to be just still but clearly failed,” he said.
He shared the challenges of learning to move in microgravity while getting to know the station.
“From the time we reached @iss we were quite busy in chasing the timeline and completing our tasks and experiments. It is a bit challenging initially as you are learning to move in microgravity and also getting to know the station.”
He compared being still in space to being still in this ‘fast-moving world’, while urging everyone to slow down and take some time out to practice stillness.
“Any small disturbance can move your body in space and it takes skill to be completely still. Kind of like our minds in this fast moving world. Take some time to be still today. It is important to sometimes slow down to be fast.”
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“Apparently being still is a challenge with or without gravity,” he concluded.
Shukla served as the designated pilot for the Axiom-4 mission, which reached the ISS after a 28-hour spaceflight. During his time aboard, Shukla successfully completed all seven microgravity experiments assigned by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), including studies on muscle regeneration, tardigrades, seed germination, algae cultivation, crop resilience, radiation effects, and human physiology.
