New Delhi: More than a decade after India's herbal queen, Shahnaz Hussain, tried hard to sell her face cream to NASA, there are chances of another Indian product making it.
Tea, the world's most widely consumed beverage, could actually be on a NASA space mission if astronaut Edward Michael Fincke gets a clearance from the authorities.
Fincke, married to an Indian from the northeastern Assam state, intends to carry a packet of Assam tea to the international space station during his third voyage, scheduled next year.
Fincke's wife, Renita Saikia, an Assamese girl and an engineer with Nasa, was instrumental in getting her husband the sobriquet of "Assam's son-in-law". During the function, Fincke also accepted the proposal from Assam Tea Planters' Association (ATPA) and North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) to carry along some Assam tea to space during his next mission.
"Mike heartily accepted the proposal, and expressed a keen interest," says NETA chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty.
Last year, Fincke carried the traditional Assamese gamcha (locally made cotton scarf) to space during the Expedition 18 Mission to the International Space Mission (ISS).
