Group Captain Shubanshu Shukla
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Special Arrangement
Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will happen in May 2025.
Group Captain Shukla would be the pilot of the upcoming Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4), which is the fourth personal astronaut mission to the ISS.
Axiom Space posted on X: “With a proven track record of excellence and experience, Axiom Space is proud to have successfully completed three Private Astronaut Missions, with a fourth scheduled for NET May 2025. We take pride in being the trusted provider for multiple countries to #ExperienceSpace and conduct groundbreaking research #ForEarth”.
NASA mentioned that the mission is focused to launch no sooner than May 2025 from its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S.
Group Captain Shukla, who can be one of many 4 astronaut-designates chosen for Gaganyaan mission of ISRO, will grow to be the primary Indian astronaut to go to the ISS, and the primary Indian to go to house in the final 40 years.
Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the industrial mission, European Space Agency challenge astronauts Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary are additionally a part of the crew.
After the launch from the Kennedy Space Center, the mission crew will spend 14 days on board the ISS to conduct some experiments.
Axiom Space mentioned that the Ax-4 analysis complement consists of round 60 scientific research and actions representing 31 international locations, together with the U.S., India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and nations throughout Europe.
“This will be the most research and science-related activities conducted on an Axiom Space mission aboard the International Space Station to date, underscoring the mission’s global significance and collaborative nature to advance microgravity research in low-Earth orbit (LEO),” it mentioned.
It added that the ISRO-led analysis, in collaboration with NASA and ESA, focuses on advancing microgravity analysis aboard the ISS to improve theunderstanding of organic processes in microgravity and develop methods for long-duration house missions.
It mentioned that ISRO’s analysis research will focus on investigating bodily and cognitive impression of pc screens in microgravity, learning development, metabolism, and genetics of three microalgae strains in microgravity vs. floor, evaluating development, mobile responses, and biochemistry of two cyanobacteria strains in microgravity, figuring out pathways of skeletal muscle dysfunction in microgravity and exploring therapies, investigating the impacts of spaceflight on germination and development of crop seeds, analyzing spaceflight impacts on six crop seed varieties and figuring out molecular mechanisms of resilience in excessive environments.
Published – April 03, 2025 04:38 pm IST
