New Delhi: As the Dragon spacecraft carrying astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to Earth after an 18-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Swaminarayan Akshardham in Delhi said that his return marks a “historic moment”, inspiring everyone’s dreams and the Gaganyaan mission.
The temple administration said that millennia ago, rishis mapped the stars with palm leaves and today, Indian astronauts are exploring them in spacecraft. “From ancient Vedic stargazers to modern astronauts, India’s cosmic journey continues unbroken,” it said in a social media post.
“We salute Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, as the first Indian astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS). His return to Earth marks a historic moment, inspiring our dreams and the Gaganyaan mission,” it added.
The temple administration also said that at Swaminarayan Akshardham in Delhi, Sanskruti Darshan (cultural boat ride) brings alive the spirit of exploration—featuring Vedic scientists who revealed the cosmic order we still marvel at today. “The sky has never been the limit — only the beginning,” it added.
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Group Captain Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force officer and test pilot, returned to Earth on July 15 after completing his first space voyage as part of the Axiom-4 mission, a commercial spaceflight supported by ISRO and NASA, and operated by Axiom Space.
Shukla is the first Indian to step aboard the ISS and only the second Indian to go into space, following Rakesh Sharma’s iconic flight in 1984.
