'The mobile felt heavy, it was difficult to handle the laptop', Shubhanshu shared his experiences of the mission:

News Topical, Digital Desk : Weeks after returning from the Axiom-4 mission, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla on Friday shared his experiences of acclimatising to Earth's environment, recalling how he found even his mobile phone heavy to hold and was unable to handle his laptop.

After 41 years an Indian has returned to space- Shubhanshu

In a virtual press conference, Shubhanshu and his colleagues from the Axiom-4 mission also shared their experiences of their 20-day space mission and 18-day stay on the International Space Station (ISS). Shubhanshu said, “After 41 years an Indian has returned to space. But this time it was not a solo jump.”

This time we are ready not only to fly but also to lead. Shubhanshu is the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma went to space under the Soviet Russian mission in 1984. He returned to Earth on July 15.

I held the phone and felt it was heavy- Shubhanshu

Shubhanshu said that the most memorable moment in the entire space journey was when he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 28. Sharing his experience of readjusting to gravity on Earth, Shubhanshu recalled the moment when he asked for the phone to take pictures and how heavy it felt in his hand. Shubhanshu said, as soon as I held the phone, I felt it was heavy.

Narrating another incident, he said, "I had to do some work on my laptop. I was sitting on my bed and I closed my laptop and placed it on the edge of the bed. I thought the laptop would fall right next to me, so I dropped it. Thankfully, the floor was carpeted, so there was no damage."

Shubhanshu said that the 20-day mission exceeded his expectations and he learnt a lot that will help India in its Gaganyaan mission. Shubhanshu said that he has completed all the homework given to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the space station.

Very useful for Gaganyaan mission

He said, I am excited to come back and share all this with my program. I believe that all this knowledge will prove to be extremely useful and important for our Gaganyaan mission. The knowledge I have acquired is related to the history of human space missions. Shubhanshu is expected to return to India in mid-August.