Interview | Shubhanshu Shukla on his new book, ‘The Second Orbit’
Indian Air Force test pilot and Gaganyaan astronaut-candidate Shubhanshu Shukla discusses his new book, 'The Second Orbit,' which details his personal journey and the realities of space travel. He emphasizes the importance of teamwork and the necessity of learning from mistakes in high-stakes environments.
Why it matters
The book provides a rare human perspective on India's ambitious space program and the psychological preparation required for astronauts.
From the moment he was announced as one of the four astronaut-candidates for India’s maiden human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan, Air Force test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla has been a prolific science communicator. His social media feed is full of amusing yet enlightening quips, videos, and posts about what going to space has been like for him.
In his new book, The Second Orbit , Shukla adds a personal touch. His journey begins from being a boy in Lucknow too paralysed by doubt to enter a handwriting competition and ends — figuratively — with being a man “encased in fire” as he plummeted through the atmosphere. But in between, he goes past the sterile trope of a ‘hero’ to talk about his body’s “quiet mutiny” and the ego-stripping lessons of teamwork. In an email interview, he speaks about why he wrote this book and the bureaucracy of space travel. Edited excerpts:
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