New Delhi, Aug 22: President Droupadi Murmu on Friday interacted with Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and discussed the latter’s successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS) -- a first ever by an Indian.

The meeting, which took place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, saw Shukla apprising the President of his mission, in which the Indian astronaut played a key role as part of the crew.

The interaction came on the eve of planned celebrations of the second National Space Day on Saturday.

During the meeting with the President, Shukla was accompanied by Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair and Group Captain Punyashlok Biswal, along with Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space, Dr V Narayanan and by Director, Human Space Flight Centre, Dinesh Kumar Singh.

The President extended her best wishes to the entire team for future endeavours, especially for the Gaganyaan Mission, said a statement on X.

Earlier on August 19, Shukla met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and shared his experience in space.

Shukla also shared photos clicked from space and discussed experience with the Prime Minister -- crucial for India's future space endeavours, especially the Gaganyaan mission -- the country's first human spaceflight mission.

During the interaction, PM Modi asked Shukla about the changes he felt once he arrived back at Earth after his space mission, to which the astronaut replied, "The brain takes time to understand that we have to walk. It does take a while to adapt back to this environment. When I came back, I was not able to walk, and people had to hold me up."

He also mentioned that this was the same thing that he experienced once he reached the ISS.

Shukla also briefed the Prime Minister about experiments that he conducted in space, including the Tardigrades, Myogenesis, Sprouting of methi and moong seeds, Cyanobacteria, Microalgae and Crop seeds.

He also told PM Modi that his crewmates are very eagerly waiting for India's Gaganyaan mission.

Stressing India's growing global stature, Shukla said, "From my personal experience over the past year, wherever I went, whomever I met, everyone was very happy to meet me, excited to talk and eager to ask what we are doing and how we are doing it."

India is set to celebrate the second National Space Day on Saturday, honouring the country's journey from satellites to human spaceflight.

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, said on Friday in an X post that on August 23, under the leadership of PM Modi, India created history as the fourth nation to land on the Moon and the first at its South Pole — a moment that inspired the future. (IANS)

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