Indian Students Eye Space Science Careers After Shubhanshu Shukla's ISS Visit

Discover how astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's historic ISS visit is inspiring a new generation of Indian students to pursue exciting careers in space science, shifting traditional career paradigms.

Photograph: ANI Video Grab

Key Points

* Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's visit to the International Space Station has sparked a massive craze for space science careers among Indian students.

* Srimathy Kesan, Founder and CEO of Space Kidz India, notes a shift in career aspirations from traditional fields like engineering and medicine towards space.

* Nobel laureate Swiss astronomer Didier Queloz highlights the potential of super curious young PhD students at the University of Cambridge to change the world.

* Queloz also states that science, with its reliance on universal truth and mathematics, allows scientists globally to collaborate effectively.

Career in space science is the new craze among students after astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to visit the International Space Station, according to Srimathy Kesan, Founder and CEO, Space Kidz India.

The Chennai-based aerospace and defence start-up is a pioneer in design, fabrication and launch of small satellites, spacecraft and ground systems.

Shubhanshu Shukla's Impact On Career Choices

"Cosmonaut Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma was the first one from India who went to space in 1984. Now we have Shubhanshu Shukla, Group Captain, who went up... and that has become a massive craze among children. Everybody wants to go up there," Kesan said here during a panel discussion on 'Building a Better Future'.

The panel discussion was part of the 'Powering Purpose' series, a global storytelling initiative by Hitachi Energy in partnership with Monocle that explores the role of electricity and power infrastructure in shaping societies, economies and the future of energy transition.

The initiative focuses on the Electricity Era and the importance of making electricity more secure, affordable, sustainable and accessible. It highlights the role of the electricity grid as critical infrastructure for economic development, geopolitical resilience and international trade while examining how electrification can support societies and improve people's lives.

"Earlier, engineering and medicine were the only two industries that the parents thought their children should be in for generations. Then came chartered accountant and law, but now it is space," Kesan said.

The Future Of Science And Youth

Nobel laureate Swiss astronomer Didier Queloz said he is working with a super curious bunch of young PhD students at University of Cambridge and is confident that they are going to change the world.

"I am working at a university which is one of the best in the world -- Cambridge.

The students I am teaching... I am with them, all the young PhD students, exactly the same. I think these people are super curious. They are going to change the world and the world that they will make is a different world than (the one) in which we are living.

"So I am super impressed by the energy of these people. I think this is the way our species has been going. And the youth is the future of all species of ours... we have to trust them," he said.

Queloz said there are not enough scientists because science is one of those domains where the truth will prevail, irrespective of what one thinks about it.

"It doesn't depend on your language, your education, or your beliefs. We will use math as a language, which is understood by everybody, and we will agree because we're seeing the same stuff. We are seeing the same data. So it is the very few elements that are global for our brain.

"Scientists of the world can work together, which is not the case for all the other elements of knowledge," he said.