Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) this afternoon. According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), docking is scheduled at 4:30 PM IST. After the docking with the ISS, Group Captain Shukla will become the first ever Indian to visit Nasa’s orbiting laboratory ISS. Axiom-4 carrying 4 astronauts lifted off from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:01 PM IST yesterday.
Group Captain Shukla, who is piloting the Axiom-4 mission to ISS, has become only the second Indian to travel to space. Ax-4 team of astronauts includes former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson of the US, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Indian Air Force officer Shukla’s trip comes 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to fly to space aboard a Russian Soyuz in 1984. Within minutes of take off yesterday, Group Captain Shukla had a message for his fellow coutrymen. He said, we are back in space after 41 years and what an amazing ride it has been.
Akashvani’s Correspondent reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed the successful launch and said Group Captain Shukla carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians. In Shukla’s home city Lucknow, his parents joined hundreds of students to watch the lift-off.
They were welcomed by a music band on their arrival at the school and were seen breaking out into applause as the rocket lifted off. Born on 10 October 1985 in Lucknow, Group Captain Shukla joined the Indian air force as a fighter pilot in 2006. He has flown MiGs, Sukhois, Dorniers, Jaguars and Hawks and has more than 2,000 hours of flying experience.
Besides piloting the mission, the Indian astronaut will have a busy schedule during his two weeks on ISS. But most of the time, the four-member crew will be conducting 60 scientific experiments, seven of which come from India. ISRO’s experiments will help improve our understanding of space and its effects on biology and micro-gravity. One of the key experiments will investigate the impact of spaceflight on six varieties of crop seeds.
