"Space May Not Cooperate": Veteran Astronaut's Warning To Shubhanshu Shukla

As India readies to send its second astronaut into space, the international space community is watching with admiration and support. Among those cheering from the sidelines is European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who had spent over a year aboard the International Space Station in 2016-17 and 2021 and has trained alongside India's astronaut-designate Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.

Will Mr Shukla make a good astronaut, the veteran astronaut was asked. "Oh, I think he will. The four astronaut-designates from India, they are all fantastic people."

Mr Pesquet, who met the Indian astronaut corps during their global training rotations, recalled their early interactions with warmth. "I was lucky enough to meet them a while ago. They were having some training in different locations across the world and then I was also training for my second mission and that's how we met. We've been friends ever since," he said.

Mr Shukla, a decorated fighter pilot and test pilot, trained at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany-home to ESA's astronaut corps. "He came to Cologne, EAC, the home of the European astronauts for training," Mr Pesquet noted. "And if things go well, I'll be at the launch cheering for him."

As India prepares to launch the astronaut-designate aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule for a fortnight-long mission to the International Space Station, questions about safety naturally arise. Mr Pesquet, who has flown on both Soyuz and Crew Dragon, gave a reassuring response. "No, it's not too risky," he said. "It's always calculated risk. You have to take some amount of risk to go to space. You know, it's not like sitting on your couch in front of the TV. It's a very different activity. But it's very controlled, it's framed really well by all the engineers and all the work that's been done."

He emphasised that while zero risk doesn't exist, the Crew Dragon has proven itself. "There's never zero risk, it doesn't exist. But I think with the experience that the SpaceX engineers have building up on the Crew Dragon, it's more and more safe every day," he added.

To Mr Shukla, Mr Pesquet offered heartfelt advice. "Trust your training, because sometimes, it's still an unexpected environment that you haven't been in. So trust your training, like you've been doing your whole life. Do the right thing. Keep calm. If things don't go the way it's expected-its space, you know, it doesn't always cooperate," he said.

He encouraged Shukla to savour the experience. "Enjoy the ride. Try to make yourself some good memories. Look at the Earth, take pictures of your activities, of your crewmates, and it's going to go super fast. So be really conscious in trying to imprint those memories on your brain, because you're going to need them when you come back," Mr Pesquet advised.

To Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India, Mr Pesquet said, "Be part of the mission. Make sure that Shukla is supported, which I think is the case by the government, by ISRO, by the entire population. It's going to be a huge wave of national pride and hopefully happiness."

And finally, to Shukla himself: "I wish you a very safe launch, very safe mission, and a happy landing. Enjoy the memory, and I'll see you soon when you're back on Earth."

Mr Shukla will be part of the Axion-4 Mission, that is scheduled for launch on June 8 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida's Cape Canaveral.