Students of seven schools in Meghalaya and Assam had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla from his orbital post on the International Space Station via ham radio on Tuesday.
The event, hosted at the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), was conducted under the collaboration of ISRO, AMSAT India, ARISS, and other space communication bodies.
Students from Army Public School-Shillong, Alpha Higher Secondary School-Nongpoh, ARYA Vidyapith High School-Guwahati, The Christ Senior Secondary School-Umiam, PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya-Barapani, The Army Public School-Umroi, and B K Bajoria School-Shillong had signed up for the event.
The students had submitted 20 questions to Shukla, and he used a 10-minute window to connect with them via Ham radio to share his experiences on the ISS, training as an astronaut, and staying healthy while in space.
“Many of you can become future astronauts, even walk on the Moon,” Shubhanshu Shukla told the excited school students.
“I will be back, and I will guide you. Many of you will become future astronauts. Stay curious, work hard, and believe in yourself, someone from you could even walk on the Moon,” Shukla said.
He said life onboard the space station is not guided by sunlight, but by the clock set to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
“We don’t follow the Sun. On the ISS, we see 16 sunrises and sunsets every day because we circle the Earth every 90 minutes. Our activities aren’t guided by sunlight, but by GMT,” Shukla said.
He said the human body goes through a lot of changes in microgravity, and it was necessary for astronauts to follow a regular exercise routine to stay healthy in orbit.
“We grow up in gravity on Earth, but here in space, there is none. The body goes through a lot of changes, and it takes some time to adapt. I experienced some space sickness at first, but there are medications, and we adapt quickly,” Shukla said.
“Microgravity causes muscle and bone loss. So we exercise every day using treadmills, cycles, and strength training machines. It’s essential to stay fit for the mission and for our return to Earth.”
Stressing the importance of physical and mental preparation, Shukla said astronauts train extensively in Russia, India, and other partner countries to handle every conceivable scenario, especially emergencies.
“Most of our training is about handling off-nominal situations. Teamwork and a strong support system are crucial,” he said.
“Robotics and AI are integral to our mission. We use robotic arms for many internal and external tasks, making our work safer and more efficient on the Space Station,” Shukla said.
Shukla is on a 14-day scientific expedition on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission, along with three other astronauts.
