Gopichand Thotakura, India’s first civilian space tourist, recieves warm welcome in Delhi

Gopichand Thotakura, India’s first civilian space tourist, recieves warm welcome in Delhi

Subject: Science and Tech

Sec: Space sector

Context:

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.

More on News:

• He was one of the six crew members of New Shephard-25 (NS-25) mission by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin.
• First Indian space tourist to fly on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin’s NS-25 mission.
• India aims to achieve debris-free space missions by 2030.

Blue Origin’s NS-25 mission

Mission Highlights:

• Type: Suborbital spaceflight mission
• Launch Vehicle: New Shepard rocket
• Launch Date: Planned for 2024
• Launched from: Launch site one in West Texas
• Crew: Six people

Significance:

• Seventh human flight:  New Shepard program.

• Return to flight: This will be the first crewed mission since a September 2022 engine failure grounded the New Shepard fleet.
• Firsts: Potentially the first Indian space tourist to fly on a commercial space mission.