Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 01:29pm on 10 Jun 2025,Tuesday Science
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force will launch to the International Space Station on June 11, becoming the first Indian citizen to do so. Aboard the Axiom-4 mission, Shukla continues a proud tradition of fighter pilots turning astronauts, following Rakesh Sharma's 1984 Soviet spaceflight. Fighter pilots like Shukla are prized for their physical conditioning, rapid decision-making, and crisis management skills—essential traits for space missions. While early space travellers were almost exclusively pilots, today’s astronaut corps includes doctors, engineers, and scientists. Shukla’s mission marks both a historic milestone and a nod to aviation’s lasting legacy in spaceflight. (PC: X)
