Sweets to toy swan - what Indian astronaut will take on historic space voyage

Astronauts generally travel light - as every kilo adds to the cost of the mission.

But a few unusual things have found their way into the bags of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla - the air force pilot set to make history by becoming only the second Indian to travel to space and the first ever to visit the International Space Station (ISS).

In just a few hours, the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) is set to take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Nasa has announced.

Scheduled for 02:31 EDT, (06:31 GMT; 12:01 India time) on Wednesday, Ax-4 will be led by former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson - a space veteran who has been commander of ISS twice, spent hundreds of days in space and done 10 space walks.

Ax-4 will be piloted by Group Captain Shukla whose trip comes 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to fly to space aboard a Russian Soyuz in 1984. He spent nearly eight days there.

The Ax-4 team also includes Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. They will also be taking their countries back to space after four decades.

A collaboration between Nasa, Isro and the European Space Agency (Esa), Wednesday's flight by Houston-based private company Axiom Space will be launched using the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket.

Group Captain Shukla's inclusion in the mission has generated a huge amount of interest in India and posters of the astronaut have come up in his home city Lucknow.

During their two-week mission, Axiom Space says, the crew would spend most of their time conducting 60 scientific experiments, including seven designed by Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

As he heads into space, Group Captain Shukla says, "I carry not just instruments and equipment, I carry hopes and dreams of a billion hearts."

However, some of the other items in his bag will be more tangible.

The Indian astronaut has said he would be carrying into space some of his favourite sweets especially-prepared for the mission.

"There will be plenty of food to eat in space, but I will be carrying mango nectar, carrot halva and moong dal [lentil] halva with me," he said at a press conference earlier this month, promising to share the goodies with his fellow astronauts.

The calorie-laden sweets, however, will pose no threat to his fitness, according to his sister Shuchi Shukla.

"He is a fitness-freak and highly into yoga so I am sure he will balance it," she told The Hindustan Times newspaper.

At the online press conference, the astronauts, who have been in quarantine to prepare for the trip, showed-off Joy - a small, white toy swan they said would be "the fifth crew member" on Ax-4.

According to Axiom, Joy will be "more than a cute companion for the Ax-4 crew" and will travel to space as their "zero-G [zero-gravity] indicator".

"It will be used as an indicator by the crew, shortly after launch, as a physical confirmation that they have transitioned to microgravity."

Unveiling the five-inch-tall toy, Commander Whitson said the swan, known for its grace and elegance, was chosen for its cultural significance in the countries represented by the crew.

"In India, it symbolises wisdom and purity, representing the pursuit of truth. In Poland, the swan stands for purity, loyalty and resilience, while in Hungary, it epitomises loyalty, grace and the beauty of nature."

Group Captain Shukla added that in Indian culture, a swan is also the vehicle of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning and wisdom.

"To carry the swan to space is to carry the pursuit of knowledge, clarity of purpose and grace under pressure," he said.

Axiom Space says Joy was chosen after the crew considered a number of animals, including dinosaurs and lions. The swan's name was proposed by the Hungarian astronaut Kapu. "A team that has joy is a team that is healthy," he said at the press conference.

Group Captain Shukla has described astronaut Rakesh Sharma, India's first man in space, as his hero.

Sharma flew to space aboard a Russian Soyuz in 1984 and spent nearly eight days orbiting Earth.

Group Captain Shukla, who was born a year later in 1985, says: "I grew up reading about him in textbooks and listening to his stories. I was deeply, deeply impressed by him."

He's described Mr Sharma as a "kind of a mentor for me, who is advising me on a lot of things, including how to prepare for this mission".

At the press conference, he revealed that he was carrying something up to the ISS for his mentor and that he would present it to him once he returns.

He refused to divulge what the souvenir would be and said "it will be a surprise".

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