Lucknow is preparing a grand welcome for local hero Shubhanshu Shukla, who is set to return to India on Sunday following his historic journey to the International Space Station (ISS). The city will honour him with a hero’s welcome and a major parade on August 25.
Group Captain Shukla, who will fly back to India from the US, is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday and then visit his hometown Lucknow on August 25.
His alma mater, the City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow, has organised a "Grand Victory Parade" to mark the occasion. The school has invited residents and students to line the streets with flags to celebrate. The parade is expected to be one of the largest civic receptions the city has ever seen. Rishi Khanna, head of communications, CMS, said efforts are being made to invite Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the event.
The Uttar Pradesh Assembly already extended its congratulations to Shukla on Tuesday for his achievement.
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Shukla was part of the Dragon spacecraft crew that lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked at the ISS on June 26. He returned to Earth on July 15.
This mission has made him the first Indian astronaut to pay a visit to the space station and he is only the second Indian to journey into space. The first was Rakesh Sharma, who travelled to the Salyut 7 orbital station in 1986.
Along with three other astronauts, Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), Shukla conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during the 18-day mission.
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