Shubhanshu Shukla, who flew to the International Space Station last year, paid tribute to India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma. ‘Thank you, sir, for being my mentor.’
The allocation for outreach programmes by the planetarium saw a dip after 2022. From Rs 29-31 lakh, it went down to Rs 16 lakh in the year 2023-24, and then just Rs 11 lakh in 2024-25.
Learnings from Axiom-4 will help improve India’s own human spaceflight. Its impact will go beyond policy rooms and launch pads to classrooms and public discussions.
The planetarium was born with India’s first human spaceflight mission since its doors were open in 1984 when Rakesh Sharma went to space, says programme director Prerna Chandra.
Rakesh Sharma flew to the Soviet space station, Salyut-7, in 1984. Now, he is eager to pass the torch to Shubhanshu Shukla, who is set for the International Space Station.
IAF is firming up plans to revamp airlift capabilities with medium transport aircraft that will be assembled in India & serve as its main workhorse. Embraer is leading contender as of now.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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