New Delhi : The French Embassy in India on Wednesday congratulated the country on a historic achievement, as Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla embarked on a journey to the International Space Station as part of Axiom Mission 4.
Group Captain Shukla, an Indian Air Force officer, is part of the international crew aboard Axiom Mission 4, launched earlier in the day. His journey marks a historic milestone for India, as he is now the second Indian to go to space.
The embassy highlighted the collaboration between France and India on the Gaganyaan program, India's first human spaceflight mission. "Congratulations, India, as Gp Capt Shubhanshu Shukla becomes the first Indian to visit @ISS_Research, piloting the historic Axiom Mission 4!" the French Embassy stated. "France is collaborating on Gaganyaan, India's first human spaceflight program, by contributing to scientific and medical preparations."
Earlier in the day, the Axiom Mission 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).
This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The crew is travelling to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 am Eastern Time (4 pm IST) on Thursday, 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, while Indian Space Research Organisation Astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla serves as pilot. The two mission specialists are European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
The astronauts are using the new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, which provides them with advanced capabilities for space exploration while providing NASA with commercially developed human systems needed to access, live and work on and around the Moon The Ax-4 mission is going to be conducting major research. The research complement includes around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries, including the US, India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and nations across Europe.