'Every Tissue in Your Body Knows Gravity... Until Suddenly, it Disappears': Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla Tells Times Now Digital About His Memoi...

Almost an year after returning from a journey that made history, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla stood before a hall full of students in Delhi, not in a spacesuit but as a storyteller, dressed sharply in his Air Force uniform. He was there to commemorate the Axiom-4 mission and launch his memoir, The Second Orbit: Belief of a Man... Dreams of 1.4 Billion Hearts. As children waited patiently in long queues for a signed copy, it became clear that they weren't just meeting an astronaut, they were meeting someone who had turned a nation's dream into reality. Speaking exclusively to Times Now Digital, Shubhanshu Shukla opened up about the quiet moments behind the headlines, from the phone call that changed his life and the emotional drive towards

the launch pad to the song that played as he caught his first glimpse of the Falcon 9 rocket. Through it all, he returned to one message for every young boy and girl listening: dream big, because impossible journeys begin with ordinary dreams.

Q. What made you decide to pen down your entire spaceflight experience?

Shubhanshu Shukla: Even before I went on the mission, a lot of people advised me to journal everything that was happening. Human space missions have a very aspirational quality, and they felt it was important to keep a record. So I had already been documenting the journey. What really made me write the book, though, was what happened after I returned to India. Within a month, I was travelling across the country, speaking to children. I saw so much excitement and curiosity among them. They were fascinated by the mission, and I realised that I couldn't possibly reach every child personally. I wanted everyone to know what this journey was like. Writing the book seemed like the best way to make my experiences accessible, especially to young readers who dream of space.

Q. Where were you when you found out you would be flying the mission? What was your first reaction?

Shubhanshu Shukla: I was driving in Bengaluru to pick up my family from the airport. I have written about this in the book. Just before a toll plaza, I received a call from someone I knew. In a very matter-of-fact tone, he told me that I would be the main pilot for Axiom Mission 4. I crossed the toll plaza, pulled over into a lay-by, got out of the car and just stood there for a few moments. I was incredibly happy. My wife often jokes that I am like a robot because I don't express emotions very openly. But inside, it was a deeply peaceful and joyful moment. Getting selected for the programme itself had been a huge milestone, but this was different. Suddenly, the possibility of actually going to space had become real.Within the next 10 to 12 months, I would be in space. I felt grateful for the opportunity. About ten minutes later, I picked up my family and shared the news with them. Their excitement showed exactly how I probably should have reacted.

Q. The image of you waving goodbye to your wife and son before launch touched millions. What was going through your mind in that moment?

Shubhanshu Shukla: That's actually not how I function. Moments like those are incredibly emotional and carry an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Those emotions can become crippling if you allow yourself to dwell on them because you still have a job to do. So I consciously focus only on the next task. I move from one activity to another, which helps me function effectively. Even then, there are moments that break through. When I waved goodbye, it still hadn't fully sunk in because our launch schedule had shifted a few times. But later that night, as we drove towards the launch pad, I could see the Falcon 9 rocket illuminated in the distance. We are allowed to play music in the car during that drive, and I chose Vande Mataram from the film Fighter. That was the moment it truly hit me. This was actually happening.

Q. You have conquered the skies as an Air Force pilot. How different was the experience of going into space?

Shubhanshu Shukla: It was unlike anything I had imagined. Every mental picture I had before launch turned out to be completely wrong. It made me realise the limitations of human imagination. You simply cannot imagine an experience you have never had before. Everything I expected was shattered, and what I experienced instead was far more extraordinary. The way everything works changes because gravity the one thing every tissue in your body has always known, suddenly disappears. You are constantly observing not only the world around you but also the changes happening inside your own body. It was an absolutely fascinating and truly out-of-this-world experience.

Q. After returning to Earth, what was the one thing you had missed the most?

Shubhanshu Shukla: Interestingly, I'm not a big foodie. For me, nutrition has always mattered more than taste. Before going to space, astronauts select their meals in advance because your taste buds become subdued in microgravity. Food also becomes a psychological comfort during long missions. Unfortunately, the meals I had selected couldn't be flown because of scheduling issues. I had chosen foods I genuinely enjoy like oats, granola, vegetables, curries, even kachori, but instead I had to eat from the standard NASA food packs. NASA's food is designed differently. It's low in sodium for bone health, so you barely taste salt.By the 12th or 13th day, I was desperately craving something salty. Before re-entry, I actually told my flight surgeon that he had better bring me something salty when I landed, otherwise I wasn't coming out of the capsule. The American flight surgeon brought chips because that's what he had. My Indian flight surgeon, whom I met shortly afterwards, brought dry kachoris, bhakarwadi and banana chips. Those tasted absolutely wonderful.

Q. You have inspired countless young people. What would you tell children who dream of becoming astronauts?

Shubhanshu Shukla: The first thing is simply to dream. Many children sitting in classrooms today need to believe that something like this is possible. If this book can help create that dream, then it has achieved one of its biggest purposes. The second thing is understanding what the profession demands. Spaceflight requires physical fitness, medical fitness, strong academic foundations, scientific knowledge and the ability to work comfortably with machines. But equally important is psychological fitness. You need resilience and the ability to function in uncertainty. Most of the time, you won't have the complete picture. You'll have to make decisions based on incomplete information. You also need to accept that you will make mistakes, no matter how well prepared you are. What's important is learning from those mistakes and moving forward. Whether you succeed or fail, the ability to move on is one of the most valuable qualities you can develop.

Q. What was it like explaining your journey to your son after you returned?

Shubhanshu Shukla: My son doesn't sit still for even a minute. He's seven now, and during the mission he was six. At the time, he seemed more interested in running around and playing than talking about space. While we were in the US, I even felt he wasn't particularly interested in what was happening. But after we came back to India, I overheard him explaining the entire mission to one of his friends. The level of detail he remembered completely surprised me. He had absorbed everything. It wasn't that he wasn't paying attention. He was simply too excited to sit down and discuss it with me. By then, he had become the space expert in his class.

Q. Finally, which chapter or episode in the book is closest to your heart?

Shubhanshu Shukla: The letters I wrote at the beginning and the end of the book are definitely the closest to my heart. Beyond that, there's one episode from our NOLS expedition during leadership and team-building training that I still laugh about. My mission specialist and I were kayaking together. Both of us were strong paddlers and determined to move as fast as possible. For two straight minutes, we paddled with all our strength and didn't move an inch. Only later did we realise we had been paddling in opposite directions the entire time. It's a hilarious story, but it also taught us some very important lessons about teamwork and coordination. Even today, I remember it and can't help smiling.