India’s time in house: Axiom-4 finally lifts off; Shubhanshu Shukla first Indian to cross Karman line in 41 years | India News

As evening enveloped Cape Canaveral, India entered a brand new daybreak when the Falcon-9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2.31am ET (12.01pm IST). In the pilot seat of ‘Dragon’, the Axiom-4 house capsule that might take a four-member crew to the International Space Station on Thursday, was India’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.“Namaskar, mere pyaare desh vasiyon,” Shukla radioed to Earth minutes after coming into house. “What a ride! We are orbiting Earth at a velocity of 7.5km per second (27,000 kmph).” Later, PM Modi congratulated the mission and posted that Shukla “is on the way to become the first Indian to go to the ISS”.Shukla turns into the first Indian to cross the ‘Karman line’ in over 41 years, after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s flight on the Soviet Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984. Shukla’s message from house – “this isn’t the beginning of my journey to ISS, but beginning of India’s human space flight programme” – displays India’s ambition to have its personal house station by 2035 and crewed missions to Moon and past.After a number of postponements, Ax-4 mission lifted off Wednesday carrying commander Peggy Whitson (US), 65, mission pilot Shukla, 39, and mission specialists Sławosz Uznanski (Poland), 41, and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), 34, on a 14-day mission to ISS. Earlier, the symbolic “crew handover” passed off. The 4 astronauts waved to their households earlier than heading to the launchpad in a Tesla. Strapped into the Dragon capsule, the crew underwent remaining checks because the countdown proceeded. Post lift-off, the capsule separated from the second stage 9 minutes, 38 seconds later, starting its journey to ISS. The capsule, now named ‘Grace’, is predicted to dock with ISS at 4.30pm IST on Thursday.

Dragon capsule “Grace” separated from Falcon 9 9 minutes after launch and is now orbiting Earth at 27,000kmph. Nose cone deployed. Navigation devices and docking sensors uncovered because the spacecraft begins its precision chase of International Space Station.Grace circles Earth as soon as each 90 minutes. The journey is not a straight line and docking is not rapid. Over the subsequent 24 to 28 hours, the capsule will execute a collection of thruster burns – every timed to the second – to elevate & fine-tune its orbit, aligning completely with the station’s trajectory.A slight delay might shift the slender rendezvous window. Onboard methods monitor place in real-time utilizing GPS, radar, and sensors, constantly updating Grace’s path towards that of the ISS.Final strategy begins Thursday. Dragon will cease at predetermined waypoints, beginning 400m out and transferring in phases. At every halt, floor controllers and onboard software program assess whether or not circumstances are proper to proceed.At 20 metres, laser sensors and cameras take over. Grace creeps ahead at only a few centimetres a second, lining up exactly with Harmony module’s docking port.Soft seize comes first – magnetic guides gently pull the capsule into place. Then onerous seize follows, as mechanical latches lock and seal the connection. Hatch opening isn’t rapid. Engineers on Earth conduct strain and leak checks earlier than approving crew switch.Aboard are 4 Axiom-4 astronauts and a fifth member – Joy, a comfortable, white child swan toy serving because the mission’s zero-gravity indicator. Joy carries private that means: chosen with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s six-year-old son, Kiash – fondly known as Sid – in thoughts.“Our first ideas all included animals,” stated mission specialist Tibor Kapu. “We have one kid with the crew, Shux’s kid Sid, who basically just loves animals. We wanted dinosaurs and lions, but we couldn’t find the right one. We were extremely happy when we found Joy.”