Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s Earth-from-Space Insight Now Immortalized in School Book
New Delhi, July 23, 2025 — Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS), is now inspiring the next generation of learners. A quote from his reflections on Earth as seen from space has been featured in the newly released NCERT Class 5 Environmental Studies textbook titled Our Wondrous World.
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The quote appears in the chapter Earth, Our Shared Home, and captures the astronaut’s moving perspective:
“After seeing Earth from outside, the first thought that came to mind was that Earth looks completely one; no border is visible from outside. It seems that no border exists, no state exists, no countries exist. We all are part of humanity, and the Earth is our one home, and all of us are in it.”
Shubhanshu Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force officer and test pilot, completed an 18-day mission aboard the ISS on July 15 as part of the Axiom-4 mission. The historic flight, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, was a collaborative mission involving ISRO, NASA, and Axiom Space.
His words, originally spoken during a conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now aim to inspire young minds to think beyond borders and foster a spirit of global unity.
Born in Lucknow on October 10, 1985, Shubhanshu Shukla was drawn to space and aviation after a childhood airshow visit. Despite no family background in the field, his dedication took him from humble beginnings to space—making him only the second Indian in space, after Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
The new NCERT textbook is part of a revised curriculum developed under the National Education Policy 2020, blending science, social studies, and environmental education to encourage ethical reasoning, observation, and a global perspective among young students.