{"id":101080,"date":"2026-04-02T23:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/2026\/04\/02\/astronaut-shukla-lauds-artemis-ii-launch-recalls-meeting-crew-india-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T23:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:11:10","slug":"astronaut-shukla-lauds-artemis-ii-launch-recalls-meeting-crew-india-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/2026\/04\/02\/astronaut-shukla-lauds-artemis-ii-launch-recalls-meeting-crew-india-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronaut Shukla lauds Artemis II launch, recalls meeting crew | India News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-articlebody=\"1\"><video-embed value=\"false\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"ihgno clearfix\">\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9\" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-129991013,imgsize-134786,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/shubhanshu-shukla.jpg\" alt=\"Astronaut Shukla lauds Artemis II launch, recalls meeting crew\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: Indian astronaut <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/shubhanshu-shukla\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Shubhanshu Shukla<\/a> lauded the Artemis II launch on Thursday that sent four astronauts on a journey around the Moon, while recalling his own experience of \u201cstanding on those very grounds for the first time, feeling humbled by what it represents\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>In a post on X, he said, \u201cIt is the same ground from which Neil Armstrong began humanity\u2019s first journey to the Moon. The same place where Peggy Whitson, the most experienced American astronaut and my commander, launched on her first mission to space. And today, it becomes the starting point for yet another chapter in our shared story of exploration.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>The space launch system rocket propelled the Artemis II mission from Launch Pad 39 B on Thursday. <!-- -->Neil Armstrong began his journey to the Moon from Kennedy Space Centre&#8217;s Launch Pad 39 A, which is just a few kilometres away from the Artemis-2 launch pad. Shukla, who is the only Indian to have flown to space from the US, also lifted off from Launch Pad 39A.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>\u201cI had the privilege of watching these astronauts prepare for this mission, and even meeting two of them personally. To see them now on the cusp of such a remarkable journey is both inspiring and moving,\u201d he posted on X.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>India became the 27th signatory to the US-led Artemis Accords in June 2023. While not directly participating in the Artemis program&#8217;s manned missions, this partnership allows India to collaborate with Nasa through Isro on technological advancements and joint missions.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>India is currently working on its own lunar goals through Chandrayaan-6, 7, and 8, building on the momentum of the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 missions. It plans to land on the Moon by 2040.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/astronaut-shukla-lauds-artemis-ii-launch-recalls-meeting-crew\/articleshow\/129990921.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW DELHI: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla lauded the Artemis II launch on Thursday that sent four astronauts on a journey around the Moon, while recalling his own experience of \u201cstanding&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/shubhanshu-shukla.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}