As a part of the mission preparedness, the astronauts were in quarantine since May 25, for four weeks. This is the first time the astronauts have been on such a long quarantine period, the longest was during the Apollo Moon mission (three weeks).
Speaking at the sidelines of the launch, Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, said, each on the astronauts have learnt a lot during the training. The hands on experience each astronaut has had and the learning each one has shared with each other during the training, will help in future scientific missions.
As a part of the mission, the four astronauts will carry out 60 experiments, seven of which will be conducted by Shukla. Including study on stem cell and crop seeds. The list of experiments the astronauts will undertake are from 31 countries including Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, Hungary, U.S, Poland and others.
The studies are aimed to increase knowledge in human research, use of AI tools, biological and material research and test human capabilities in space. The astronauts will also conduct live interactive sessions and classes with students and experts. Shukla is also scheduled to have a live interaction from the ISS with an Indian VIP.