Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) lauded the indomitable spirit of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the second Indian in space. Led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson – the Ax-4 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12 pm1ST on June 25.The trip to ISS aboard Ax-4 – a commercial flight operated by Houston-based private company Axiom Space – is a collaboration between NASA, India’s space agency ISRO, European Space Agency (ESA) and SpaceX.
Complementing Shubhanshu who is piloting theAxiom 4 Mission the IAF wrote on Plaftform X, “From conquering the skies to touching the stars — a journey powered by the indomitable spirit of the IAF Air Warrior.
“The Air Force remembered Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma’s space odyssey and called it a ‘dèja-vu moment for India’. “Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla sets forth on a landmark Space Mission, carrying the pride of the nation beyond Earth. This is a dèja-vu moment for India, 41 years after the mission of Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, who first carried our Tricolour beyond Earth,” the post read.
“Being more than a mission — it is reaffirmation of India’s ever-expanding horizon,” IAF wrote. The Axiom Mission 4 or Ax-4, launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 2:31 am Eastern Time (12 Noon IST).Previously, IAF Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme.
Axiom-4 is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The crew is travelling to the orbiting laboratory on a new Space X Dragon spacecraft. The targeted docking time is approximately 4 pm IST on June 26. Once docked, the astronauts plan to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprised of science, outreach, and commercial activities. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, is in command of the mission along with specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
