Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 9: Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is poised to etch his name in history as the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS), joining an international crew on a transformative journey that promises to ignite a new era of space exploration in India.
After two prior delays, US-based Axiom Space is set to launch its highly anticipated Mission-4 (Ax-4) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 10 at 8:22 a.m. ET (5:52 p.m. IST). Shukla will travel aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket alongside Commander Peggy Whitson (USA), mission specialist Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and mission specialist Tibor Kapu (Hungary).
While Shukla will be the first Indian on the ISS, he follows in the footsteps of Rakesh Sharma, who ventured into space aboard Salyut 7 in 1984. Addressing a press conference recently, Shukla exuded confidence, declaring Mission-4 a mission of inspiration aimed at igniting the passion of an entire generation toward space careers.
Speaking to reporters in March, Shukla credited Rakesh Sharma as a source of deep motivation, expressing his own hopes of inspiring young Indians to pursue the stars.
Once aboard the ISS, Shukla will pilot the mission while contributing to groundbreaking experiments in food and nutrition science. These experiments — a collaboration between ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology, supported by NASA — aim to revolutionize space nutrition by exploring the viability of edible microalgae as a sustainable food source for long-duration space travel.
The research will assess the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on microalgae, studying growth rates and shifts in transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes compared to Earth-based controls.
Axiom Space, enthusiastic about its fourth mission to the ISS, confirmed the team’s readiness following a comprehensive rehearsal with SpaceX. In a social media post, the company declared: “Go #Ax4!”
A backup launch window is also in place for June 11 at 8:00 a.m. ET (5:30 p.m. IST), ensuring the mission stays on track.
Ax-4 marks Axiom’s second fully commercial flight and includes a diverse crew representing government and ESA-sponsored astronauts. The team is expected to conduct approximately 60 experiments spanning contributions from 31 countries, including India, the US, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, the UAE, and various European nations.
With Shukla’s participation, India’s aspirations for space exploration soar even higher, promising to inspire a generation to dream beyond Earth’s bounds.