New Delhi, April 1 -- As NASA prepares for Artemis II-the first crewed mission to travel beyond low-Earth orbit in more than five decades-Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has offered a rare perspective shaped by his experience within the US spaceflight ecosystem.

Shukla, an ISRO Gaganyatri and Indian Air Force officer, in an interview with NDTV spoke about his interactions with astronauts preparing for future missions, including Artemis II, and the mindset that defines them.

Shukla's own journey to space came through the Axiom-4 mission in 2025, a commercial human spaceflight initiative conducted in collaboration with NASA. The mission placed him in low-Earth orbit, making him the only Indian so far to have flown as part of a NASA-lin...