Lucknow, June 26 -- letters@htlive.com

: The Indian flag adorns one side of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's spacesuit and the other has a badge specially curated for the journey by his friend and designer Manish Tripathi (39).

Tripathi, a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi graduate, has also worked on designing clothes for Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.

Shukla's junior from school days, Tripathi came in contact with the astronaut with the help of a common school friend Vishal Srivastava.

"We exchanged ideas and I began working on the project in August 2024. I did not use any advanced equipment or tools to design the badge as I wanted it to be made of my own creative thoughts. I conceived every detail, ideated and sketched...