New Delhi: Group Captain Shubanshu Shukla, who created history by becoming the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS), was on Sunday conferred with the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award.
In June last year, Shukla became the second Indian to go into space and the first person to set foot on the ISS as part of the Axiom-4 mission.
Shukla’s 18-day space mission came 41 years after astronaut Rakesh Sharma flew in a Russian Soyuz in 1984.
As a combat pilot, Shukla has an impressive record of 2,000 hours of flying experience in various aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and An-32.
On the occasion of Republic Day today, President Droupadi Murmu approved gallantry awards to 70 armed forces personnel, out of which six will receive the honour posthumously.