Lucknow awaits Shubhanshu Shukla’s return, to organise ‘Grand Victory Parade’ for local boy

Lucknow prepares for a grand welcome as local boy Shubhanshu Shukla is set to return to India on Sunday following his landmark visit to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission.
Group Captain Shukla, who will fly back to India from the US, is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday and then visit his hometown Lucknow on August 25.
His alma mater, the City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow, has announced a grand procession to mark the occasion and will accord him a hero’s welcome.
In an official message, the school called upon residents to line the streets, wave flags, and join the celebrations during what it has termed the “Grand Victory Parade”.
The parade is expected to be one of the biggest civic receptions the city has witnessed, with school children, residents and dignitaries coming together to honour Shukla.
Rishi Khanna, head of communications, CMS, said efforts are being made to invite Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the event.
The Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday congratulated Shukla for his historic journey to the International Space Station.Shukla was part of the Dragon spacecraft crew that lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked at the ISS on June 26. He returned to Earth on July 15.
This mission made him the first Indian astronaut to visit the space station and only the second Indian to journey into space. The first was Rakesh Sharma, who travelled to the Salyut 7 orbital station in 1986.
Along with three other astronauts, Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), Shukla conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during the 18-day mission. (PTI)