New Delhi: India’s first civilian space tourist, Gopichand Thotakura, arrived in Delhi on Monday after completing his trip to space. He had travelled to space as a member of the crew for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s space company, Blue Origin’s New Shephard-25 (NS-25) mission. Thotakura is an Indian-born aviator and commercial pilot.
On his return to the country, he received a raucous welcome in New Delhi. Thotakura is also an US-based wellness entrepreneur. As he returned, he was honoured to have represented the country on the mission and was now happy to be back home.
But, how was his journey to the space and what all he saw? Well, the whole journey from take-off to landing lasted only about ten minutes. It was during this period that the spacecraft attained a maximum height of 105 km from Earth’s surface. Their trip to space had started on May 19.
#WATCH | India’s first civilian space tourist Gopichand Thotakura receives a warm welcome on his arrival in Delhi.
He travelled to space as part of the crew for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin’s New Shephard-25 (NS-25) mission. pic.twitter.com/Nmkx9BiXbd
— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2024
Did he see India from the space?
Thotakura had taken a suborbital flight launched from Texas and thus, India wasn’t visible, he had told in an interview to Hindustan Times. But, he had looked for it. From his flight, he could only spot the Atlantic Ocean and parts of Europe. Had it been a full orbit flight, he would have had the chance to view India from the space.
1O minutes of watching the ‘blue ball’ from space
He was taken in awe of the beauty of the ‘majestic blue ball’ (earth from space). “The experience is something I cannot describe, it has to be seen, it has to be lived in the moment, and then it will change you forever,” he told the Hindustan Times. He had also insisted that every Indian must visit the space. For him, this trip was an ‘exhilarating journey of weightlessness and awe-inspiring views.’
How to get selected for a space tourism flight?
Well, for that, the space tourist had told, ‘There is training. You have physical training. There’s a mental aspect to it.’ In this training, the tourist has to qualify as to whether he or she can handle the shock, the awe or the potential for freezing under pressure.
Opportunity for more Indians to visit space
Last month, US-based Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA), in collaboration with Blue Origin, had announced India as a partner nation for their human spaceflight programme for citizens from nations that have sent few or no astronauts to space, according to media reports. SERA will offer citizens from across the world six seats on its future mission.
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