Thiruvananthapuram, March 28 Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar said on Saturday that India is progressing in every field, and even space will not be a limit for the country.
The governor was speaking at an event held at Lok Bhavan here, featuring a talk by astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla on the topic—'India in Space, India in Strength: The Youth Roadmap to Develop India'.
Arlekar said that the Gaganyaan mission—India’s first crewed spaceflight programme—and the country’s first space station were expected to become a reality in the next few years.
He added that the event had been organised for students from across the state to inform them about India’s achievements and the efforts being made to advance in all fields.
"For India to become 'saare jahaan se achha' (the best in the world), we need to work hard for that," he said.
During his talk, Shukla shared his experiences in space, the journey aboard the rocket to the International Space Station (ISS), and the training he underwent before the mission.
The astronaut spoke about the experiments he conducted in microgravity aboard the ISS and how his mind and body had to adjust to the conditions in space and readjust after returning to Earth.
He also showed students videos of his experiences on the ISS and of his training.
Shukla undertook an 18-day mission on the ISS in June–July last year, becoming the first Indian to visit the orbital lab.
Speaking to students at Lok Bhavan, he said that by the end of his mission, he had become comfortable with the conditions on the ISS and found it “so peaceful” that he wished he could have stayed longer.
He added that his message after returning to Earth was: “The sky is never the limit—not for me, not for you, and not for India.”