New Delhi: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others were getting ready for their journey to the International Space Station on board SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket that is scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida on Tuesday evening.
Shukla’s travel to space marks India’s return to human spaceflight 41 years after Rakesh Sharma scripted history by undertaking a journey to space onboard Soviet Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.
The Lucknow-born Shukla, who goes by the call sign ‘Shuks’, is part of an ISRO-NASA supported commercial spaceflight by Axiom Space where all the customers are national governments.
The Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, set for lift-off from Launch Complex 39A of the KSC in Florida, comprises Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shukla and specialists Tigor Kapu of Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland.
“Launch is targeted for 8:22 a.m. ET (5:52 pm IST), with a backup opportunity available on Wednesday, June 11 at 8:00 a.m. ET,” SpaceX, which has built the Falcon-9 rocket and the Dragon space capsule, said.
The 14-day mission will “realise the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary.
The Ax-4 crew and SpaceX teams completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities on Sunday ahead of liftoff.
“A proud global acknowledgement of India’s Space capabilities… a befitting tribute to the founding fathers Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan,” Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said.
In Lucknow, Shukla’s City Montessori School (CMS) has planned a “public watch party” to celebrate his spaceflight.
Several hoardings have come up across the city congratulating ‘Shuks’ for his spaceflight. CMS has set up giant screens to relay the SpaceX launch live with NASA/Axiom commentary.
“We are eagerly looking forward to the launch. Shux is incredibly focused yet brimming with joy’,” Suchi Mishra, Shukla’s sister, said in Lucknow.
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.
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.
