CM Yogi hails Shubhanshu Shukla on Ashoka Chakra honour
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday congratulated Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, a native of Lucknow, on being conferred the Ashoka Chakra, saying his courage and composure has given a new thrust to India's human spaceflight programme.
President Droupadi Murmu honoured Shukla with the country's highest peacetime gallantry award on the 77th Republic Day at Kartavya Path in New Delhi for his “indomitable courage and outstanding valour” in successfully carrying the Axiom Mission-4 to the International Space Station (ISS). “Your fearlessness, commitment and restraint have given a new flight to India's human space programme,” the chief minister said in a social media post in Hindi. Shukla's achievement would continue to inspire future generations to move ahead in the fields of science and research, he added. In June last year, Shukla created history by becoming the first Indian to set foot on the ISS and the second Indian to travel to space, 41 years after the legendary Rakesh Sharma's 1984 mission. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Government also honoured Shukla on various occasions for his accomplishments last year.
Most recently, on January 24, he was among five luminaries of the state conferred with the UP “Gaurav Samman” on the occasion of the statehood day.
Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 mission, executed by US-based private firm Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). During his 18-day stay aboard the ISS, he conducted a series of advanced scientific experiments that drew praise from global space experts.
An accomplished fighter pilot with over 2,000 hours of flying experience on aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar and Hawk, Shukla was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in June 2006.
