India’s first civilian astronaut back in the country, calls on Dhankhar

Captain Gopichand Thotakura, India's first civilian space tourist, met VP Jagdeep Dhankhar after returning from Blue Origin's NS-25 mission. He urges youth to dream big.

Captain Gopichand Thotakura, India’s first civilian space tourist, met vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar upon his return to the country on Monday.

India’s first civilian astronaut back in the country, calls on Dhankhar

The 30-year-old Vijayawada resident recently travelled to the edge of space as part of the crew for Blue Origin’s New Shepard-25 (NS-25) mission. Blue Origin is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space venture.

“I am very happy to be home. It is a proud moment for me as well as the country. It took us around 40 years after Rakesh Sharma’s mission to space. It should not have taken four decades. We should have been there much before. We have the capability to reach the space not once but many times,” Thotakura said.

NS-25 completed its mission on May 19 as it crossed the Karman Line — the boundary where Earth’s atmosphere ends and outer space starts, about 100km above Earth’s surface.

The US-based Indian businessman and pilot was part of a six-member crew which also included Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, and Ed Dwight.

Dwight (90), the eldest in the crew, was selected by former US President John F Kennedy as the country’s first Black astronaut candidate in 1961 but never got the opportunity to fly.

“I want to ask young people in India not to stop dreaming. Dreams are free. Do not limit your imagination just because your dreams sound too good to be true or there is a gender discrimination. You too can go to space. You encourage yourself. Be passionate. You can be anything, go anywhere,” Thotakura said.