Gopichand Thotakura celebrates successful mission to space.
| Photo Credit: Blue Origin
India’s first civilian space tourist Gopichand Thotakura returned to the country on Monday (August 26, 2024) to witness a warm welcome in New Delhi. He has set the record of being the second-ever Indian citizen to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma, a former Indian Air Force pilot, who travelled to space in 1984.
He was one of the six crew members ofNew Shephard-25 (NS-25) mission by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin.
“The feeling has been awaited for a long time. I am very happy to be back home. It is a very proud moment for India as well. I am honoured to be representing the country…” the US-based entrepreneur told ANI.
He talked about the possibility of more common people visiting the space. “I believe that space tourism is where the future is,” he added.
“The feeling has been awaited for a long time. I am very happy to be back home. It is a very proud moment for India as well. I am honoured to be representing the country and very excited for everyone else to go and do something in the space with Origin or any other organisation.” Mr. Thotakura further said.
“I am leaving to meet my parents and grandparents at home. People around me are more excited,” he added.
Mr. Thotakura was born in Vijayawada and did schooling in Visakhapatnam. He became a trained pilot in the United States, after studying aeronautical engineering.
In an earlier media statement, Mr. Thotakura described himself as the “first civilian Indian astronaut”. Answering a question by The Hinduhe explained thathe would be an astronaut because anyone who crosses the Karman Line — the boundary that separates Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, and is at about 80 km above sea level — is considered to be one.
“I’ve always aspired to go to space. When I came to the U.S. in 2010, this meant either going via NASA or being a U.S. citizen and these were barriers for me. Blue Origin opened up opportunities,” he had told The Hindu.
(With inputs from ANI)
