New Delhi: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others are set to embark on Axiom Space’s fourth human spaceflight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida June 10 and are likely to dock at the International Space Station June 11 at about 10 PM IST, after a nearly 28-hour journey.
Shukla, the mission pilot of the Axiom-4 (Ax4) commercial mission to the ISS, will be accompanied by mission commander Peggy Whitson and specialists Tibor Kapu from Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland.
The Axiom-4 mission will mark India’s return to space 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s historic spaceflight onboard Russia’s Soyuz mission in 1984.
“The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 12:30 p.m.EDT (10:00 p.m. IST), Wednesday, June 11,” NASA said in a statement.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan visited Axiom Space last week to review the preparations for the spaceflight.
The astronauts have been in quarantine since May 25 to prepare for the trip and have been training ahead of the launch on June 10.
“The #Ax4 crew undergoes extensive emergency training, featuring a range of scenarios such as underwater escape drills,” Axiom Space said in a post on X, and shared a video of the training programme.
During the 14-day stay at the ISS, the Ax-4 crew is expected to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, school students, and space industry leaders among others.
Earlier this week, the crew addressed a press conference to give an update on the training ahead of the launch.
“We are good for the launch, we have completed all the training and the team has bonded well,” Whitson said on Tuesday.
Shukla described the year-long training for the spaceflight as “nothing short of transformative”.
“It has been an amazing journey so far, but the best is yet to come. As I go into space, I carry not just instruments and equipment, I carry hopes and dreams of a billion hearts,” Shukla said.
Shukla is set to conduct exclusive food and nutrition-related experiments developed under a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA.
The experiments aim to pioneer space nutrition and self-sustaining life support systems vital for future long-duration space travel.
ISRO has lined up a set of seven experiments for Shukla, who will also participate in five joint studies planned by NASA for its human research program.
It has drawn up plans to focus on India-centric food for carrying out experiments on the ISS, including sprouting methi (Fenugreek) and moong (green gram) in microgravity conditions.
Shukla will also expose the seeds to the macrobiotic conditions and bring them back to earth where they will be cultivated into plants not just once but over generations.
Shukla’s experience on the Axiom Mission 4 would be very well utilised on the Gaganyaan mission which is planned for 2027. ISRO is spending Rs 550 crore on the Axiom-4 mission.
PTI
