Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has created history by becoming the first Indian ever to set foot on the International Space Station.
After multiple delays and postponements, the Axiom-4 mission carrying India’s Shubhanshu Shukla was successfully launched on June 25 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Axiom-4 mission took astronauts to the International Space Station (“ISS”). Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who’s piloting the mission, has become only the second Indian to travel to space.
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About The Mission
The astronauts flew in a spacecraft called Dragon. It was made by a company named SpaceX. A rocket called Falcon-9 helped the Dragon go up into space. The Axiom-4 mission marks the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS. The commercial space mission operated by a Houston-based private company Axiom Space is a collaboration between NASA, ISRO, ESA and Space. The astronauts reached the ISS after a flight of about 28 hours.
This mission is the first time India will be part of the ISS and is considered a step towards India’s upcoming Gaganyaan space program.
About the Astronauts
The crew for the mission includes three astronauts who have never been to the ISS before: Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Poland’s Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. The fourth and final member of the team is Peggy Whitson of the US, a former NASA astronaut.
“Namaskar to all my countrymen. What a ride! After 41 years, we are back in space and what a ride it has been”. These were the first words of the Axiom-4 mission’s designated pilot and the first Indian to travel to space in 41 years, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.
What will the astronauts do in space?
The astronauts will carry out 69 experiments; seven of them will be done by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. Some of the experiments include studying how plants and algae grow in space and learning how muscles heal.The astronauts will stay in space for 14 days.
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Did You Know?
The first Indian astronaut, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, travelled to space in 1984 aboard a Russian Soyuz.
The four astronauts had been in a four-week quarantine since May 25, the longest in any modern space mission.Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla was among four Indian air force officers shortlisted last year to travel on the country’s first-ever human space flight, scheduled for 2027.
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