(Drop cap) India’s dream of sending its first astronaut to the world’s biggest space station will soon be realised as IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will fly to the International Space Station on May 29 at 1.03 pm Eastern Time Zone (10.33pm IST), Axiom Space announced on Tuesday.
According to Nasa , Group Capt Shukla, who was trained for the space mission in Russia as well as in the US, will pilot Axiom Mission-4 , a private astronaut mission launching aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The mission, which is jointly being undertaken by Nasa and Isro, will be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Group Capt Shukla will be accompanied by Peggy Whitson, a former Nasa astronaut, mission commander Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Once docked, the astronauts are scheduled to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprising science, outreach and commercial activities. Shukla's trip to space comes four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s iconic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft in April 1984.
“Private astronaut missions are an important component of Nasa’s strategy for enabling a robust and competitive commercial economy in low Earth orbit. Private astronaut missions also serve as pathfinders in demonstrating the demand for future commercial space stations,” the US space agency said on X while confirming the launch date.
Isro has shortlisted seven microgravity research experiments proposed by Indian principal investigators from various national R&D labs or academic institutions for implementation on the ISS by the Indian astronaut. These include studying 'water bears' — microscopic organisations — to understand how living things adapt to microgravity. According to Isro, the experience will nurture a microgravity research ecosystem back home, leading to the induction of advanced experiments that make up India's space programme.
Space minister Jitendra Singh said Shukla will focus on 'space technology, space bio-manufacturing, and bio-astronautics' during his ISS mission.
“We have a sprouting experiment which tries to sprout green gram or moong and methi or fenugreek seeds, which are believed to have medicinal properties,” Tushar Phadnis, group head for microgravity platforms and research, said at the virtual press conference organised by Axiom. “The idea is not just to stop sprouting it there. The idea is also to see how these India-specific sprouts behave when they come back. They will undergo a lot of analysis in the labs of the respective PIs (principal investigators),” Phadnis said.
Overall, Axiom-4 has a research complement of around 60 scientific studies, including the seven from India. Lucie Low, chief scientist, Axiom Space, reiterated that this will be the most research and science-related activities conducted on an Axiom Space mission aboard the ISS to date.
Experience from the ISS mission will give momentum to India’s first human spaceflight programme ‘Gaganyaan’ and also future manned missions to space.
Director of international govt business at Axiom Space, Pearly Pandya, who is an Indian-American and was born in Ahmedabad, informed the media in Delhi recently that Shukla and his backup, Group Captain Prashanth Nair, are being trained to operate payloads and conduct scientific research in microgravity. The ISS project is an end-to-end commercial mission for Axiom, which will take care of astronaut training, medical operations and help conduct space experiments, she added.
The Ax-4 mission is a significant collaboration between India and the US, announced by PM Narendra Modi during his visit to the US last year.
According to Nasa , Group Capt Shukla, who was trained for the space mission in Russia as well as in the US, will pilot Axiom Mission-4 , a private astronaut mission launching aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The mission, which is jointly being undertaken by Nasa and Isro, will be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Group Capt Shukla will be accompanied by Peggy Whitson, a former Nasa astronaut, mission commander Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Once docked, the astronauts are scheduled to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprising science, outreach and commercial activities. Shukla's trip to space comes four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s iconic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft in April 1984.
“Private astronaut missions are an important component of Nasa’s strategy for enabling a robust and competitive commercial economy in low Earth orbit. Private astronaut missions also serve as pathfinders in demonstrating the demand for future commercial space stations,” the US space agency said on X while confirming the launch date.
Isro has shortlisted seven microgravity research experiments proposed by Indian principal investigators from various national R&D labs or academic institutions for implementation on the ISS by the Indian astronaut. These include studying 'water bears' — microscopic organisations — to understand how living things adapt to microgravity. According to Isro, the experience will nurture a microgravity research ecosystem back home, leading to the induction of advanced experiments that make up India's space programme.
Space minister Jitendra Singh said Shukla will focus on 'space technology, space bio-manufacturing, and bio-astronautics' during his ISS mission.
“We have a sprouting experiment which tries to sprout green gram or moong and methi or fenugreek seeds, which are believed to have medicinal properties,” Tushar Phadnis, group head for microgravity platforms and research, said at the virtual press conference organised by Axiom. “The idea is not just to stop sprouting it there. The idea is also to see how these India-specific sprouts behave when they come back. They will undergo a lot of analysis in the labs of the respective PIs (principal investigators),” Phadnis said.
Overall, Axiom-4 has a research complement of around 60 scientific studies, including the seven from India. Lucie Low, chief scientist, Axiom Space, reiterated that this will be the most research and science-related activities conducted on an Axiom Space mission aboard the ISS to date.
Experience from the ISS mission will give momentum to India’s first human spaceflight programme ‘Gaganyaan’ and also future manned missions to space.
Director of international govt business at Axiom Space, Pearly Pandya, who is an Indian-American and was born in Ahmedabad, informed the media in Delhi recently that Shukla and his backup, Group Captain Prashanth Nair, are being trained to operate payloads and conduct scientific research in microgravity. The ISS project is an end-to-end commercial mission for Axiom, which will take care of astronaut training, medical operations and help conduct space experiments, she added.
The Ax-4 mission is a significant collaboration between India and the US, announced by PM Narendra Modi during his visit to the US last year.
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