• It's also amazing how this country has had Rakesh Sharma and a space programme of its own. We had leaders whose ideas about using space fired people's imagination. It's you and Kalpana Chawla who made such a big difference.

I think I'm just continuing the legacy of Kalpana. She was an incredible person, an amazing friend, and I learnt quite a bit from her about life as well as about being an astronaut. She mentioned something to me, and to many people, that I will try to explain to the kids as part of my charter here in India -- our planet is one big place where people from all over the world live together. When you are up in space, you see the vastness of the universe and realise you are just one little piece.

• I believe what persuaded you to come to very unscientific New Delhi was the idea of meeting Kalpana's family.

Absolutely. I was here in 2003, after the Columbia accident. I came here with them and we became great friends. I was coming to see my second family.

• In India there was a lot of excitement about you being up there. And there was a lot of concern about you. It got heightened because of Kalpana Chawla.

Unfortunately it took the Columbia disaster to bring back to people's mind the thrill of going to space. Otherwise, it was becoming a little too routine. No matter how we look at it right now, space flight is still experimental. We are on the cutting edge and our spacecrafts have just enough power to get to space and the design to come back. We do have to learn quite a bit. One positive thing about the Columbia disaster was this awareness of space travel, science & technology, and math that it created. I can feel that in (my interaction with) children here in India.

... contd.