Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla / ISRO

Ax-4 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft with Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, ISRO astronaut, on board. Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) is the next commercial human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station. Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to be assigned to the orbiting laboratory in 40 years will spend up to 14 days at the ISS in the spring of 2025.

Indiaspora Ambassador and South Asian Journalist Association (SAJA) President, Sree Sreenivasan moderated panelists Mission Pilot Shukla, Anita Dey manager, NASA HQ, and Tejpal Bhatia, chief revenue officer Axiom Space on a panel discussion-Beyond borders; India, the diaspora and the quest for space exploration.

Shukla provided a glimpse into the rigorous astronaut training that includes orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, emergency preparedness, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial and full mission simulations. This training covers everything from payload operations to emergency protocols, ensuring the crew can operate seamlessly in the microgravity environment of the space station. Shukla went through a comprehensive onboarding process at Axiom Space headquarters. This included familiarization with the mission objectives, safety protocols, state-of-the-art facilities at Axiom Space.

“My training in India did prepare me very well for the various aspects of space exploration,” said Shukla, who was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force. “The most important requirement at that time is to be calm so you can apply your mind in solving the problem and not let your emotions take over. That will help me very well for the mission.”

Military training is hard. “You become comfortable with being uncomfortable. That is the essence of the entire training,” said Shukla. 

Shukla will assist the commander in conducting spacecraft operations like navigation and docking, as well as perform critical system checks and handle emergencies. He will also support scientific research by setting up and managing microgravity experiments.

Bhatia highlighted Axiom Space's role in commercial space exploration, especially with the upcoming Ax-4 mission. He also spoke of another mission, the NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) mission now scheduled for launch in 2025 from India. On October 15 2024, after the completion of all checks and tests, NASA's C-130 took off  for India. NISAR will observe Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces sampling Earth on average every 6 days for a baseline 3-year mission by combining two kinds of synthetic aperture radars.

In the future Bhatia anticipates space expl;oration will lead to major advancements in three areas before the end of the decade: orbital data centers with advance compute going off the planet to support earth, communication and deep space communication; pharmaceuticals -biomedical science devices for commercial purposes, cures for diseases that we have been trying to solve; and advanced materials particularly semiconductors.” We are going to see a lot of game changing technology coming out of space in the next 3-4 years,” he said.

“From NASA’s perspective,” said Dey, “the low orbit is becoming more viable. NASA can spend its time going beyond that and pushing humanity further and further.”

Sreenivasan asked the panelists about the value of India and what it is the impact of Indian culture given the fact that a number of Indians work at the NASA facilities.“Combining cultures, taking what you want from one and leaving something behind puts us and other immigrants in a place of advantage to really be able to thrive off the planet,” felt Dey.

The discussion also emphasized the importance of showcasing diverse individuals in space to inspire future generations. Sreenivasan pointed to the book written by Indiaspora member and Yale professor,  Priyamvada Natarajan, Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos that highlights the ``greatest hits'' of cosmological discoveries--the ideas that reshaped our universe over the past century. He also pointed out the great internships available with NASA. Shukla’s advice to the future generations was to do the task they have in hand to the best of their ability. These small tasks lead to big achievements.

The panel concluded with a commitment to inclusivity and collaboration in space exploration. Shukla felt that as our orbit expands our definition of who we are also expands. 

“First you define yourself by the school you go to, as you leave your town, you define yourself as a native of that town, and then the country and now finally the planet, Earth. This journey is a unifying experience for all of us,” said Shukla. 

“There is space in Space for everyone.”