Overall, the public sentiment towards Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's upcoming mission to the ISS is predominantly positive, charged with national pride and admiration. Many view it as a significant achievement and a historic milestone in India's space journey, drawing parallels with Rakesh Sharma's legacy. Pride and best wishes are common, although there are concerns about India's strategic priorities in space exploration, especially in relation to domestic initiatives like the Gaganyaan program. Skepticism and financial concerns are voiced by some, questioning the mission's importance compared to national projects.

Shubhanshu Shukla

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

Axiom Space

Indian Government

The lack of awe is interesting, but excessively cynical.

Even if this mission does nothing specific for the nation, This is going to be Mr Shuklas first time in space. For a nation that concerned about Sunita Williams even though she was not Indian, It's a bit disheartening when we can't even feel some joy for one of our own to go to space.

Gotoflyhigh

The headline is referring to the first Indian in space back in 1984, Rakesh Sharma visiting the Salyut 7 station. 

But there's also Sunita Williams, born in America to Indian parents, who was in orbit earlier this year. I can see them excluding her from the count as she was born in the US, also Raja Chari born in the US and visiting ISS in 2021.

And there was also Kalpana Chawla, born in India and flying on the Shuttle in 97 and 03, tragically dying on the Columbia. I think the mistake is that her flights didn't visit the ISS, they were free flying Shuttle missions. Which will make Shubhanshu Shukla the first Indian national to visit ISS. 

Which makes the headline wrong. It's not the first Indian in orbit for 40 years. It's the first Indian national to visit the International Space Station. You could phrase it as the first Indian to visit an orbiting space station in 40 years if you really want that Salyut 7 reference in the headline but it's a bit of a stretch.

Jedi_Emperor

**Kalpana Chawla** (March 17, 1962 – February 1, 2003) was an American astronaut and [aerospace engineer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_engineer) who was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space.

She became a naturalized United States citizen in the early 1990s.

She flew on STS 87 and STS 107 as mission specialist. She died as STS 107 failed on reentry (the Columbia accident).

So the article is almost wrong - Shukla will be the first Indian *citizen* to get to orbit in 40 years.

JetScootr

Why is everyone in the comments so cynical?
He’s going to gain valuable mission experience on this trip and aboard the ISS.His insights will definitely be useful for our Gaganyaan missions.

Inquisitive_Pleb

As an Indian. "meh"

This is unnecessary. I would rather root for India's own Gaganyaan program which aims for a manned Indian mission within the next 2 years.

zenitsu10000

Outstanding moves. India’s moon lander alone should merit them a spot on a science vessel, it was so damn good!

Strawbuddy

Will he fly on Dragon or Soyuz?
Or on an Indian built carrier rocket?

Durable_me

Meh. It will only matter when we do it through our own Rocket. Which should happen in a few years.

abyssDweller1700

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiom_Mission_4

&gt; "The crew of four consists of commander Peggy Whitson, an Axiom employee; pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organisation; and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a European Space Agency project astronaut from Poland, and Tibor Kapu representing the Hungarian Space Office.[4] Shubhanshu Shukla will be the first of India's astronaut corps to fly to space."

Launch expected Jun 8

For an isro/indian astronaut to go to space, this, to me,  is receiving surprisingly little attention.  When he does reach space, Group Captain Shukla of the IAF would be a direct successor to Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma

barath_s

[deleted]

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|-------|---------|---|
|[DoD](/r/ISRO/comments/1kwdku7/stub/muocd2h "Last usage")|US Department of Defense|
|[IAF](/r/ISRO/comments/1kwdku7/stub/mughz25 "Last usage")|[International Astronautical Federation](http://www.iafastro.org/)|
| |Indian Air Force|
| |Israeli Air Force|
|[ISRO](/r/ISRO/comments/1kwdku7/stub/mv0pwdn "Last usage")|Indian Space Research Organisation|
|[VAST](/r/ISRO/comments/1kwdku7/stub/mv2nuwp "Last usage")| Vehicle Assembly, Static Test and Evaluation Complex (VAST, previously STEX)|

Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

----------------
^([Thread #1221 for this sub, first seen 27th May 2025, 13:51]) 
^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/ISRO) [^[Contact]](https://hachyderm.io/@Two9A) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)

Decronym

Govt must have paid a fortune for his seat in Axiom 4. Strange that govt couldn't negotiate for free deal with NASA and prioritized NASA's mission instead of this private thingy. No comparison with Rakesh Sharma's epic flight that was completely undertaken by USSR and India paid nothing in return.

Dramatic_Respond7323


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Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla prepares for a historic mission to the International Space Station, marking India's significant step in international space collaboration and future space missions.

Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom-4 Mission to ISS

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