New Delhi:
India’s ‘Gaganratri’, or eight-month training for astronauts, who can travel to the international space station, or ISS, as an end-May, has come to the end. The crew is now preparing for flight on SpaceX Falcon -9 rocket and SpaceX crew dragon.
Houston -based private space company Axiom Space Inc. Said that the AXIOM Mission 4 (AX-4) The crew completed NASA training, marking an important milestone as they prepare for their visit to ISS. The completion of the four-person crew of the NASA training program stands as a will for their hard work and associate spirit that runs the discovery of human space.
As part of the completion ritual, the crew of four cut the cake decorated with a flight patches, and the flight patches were also placed in a specified place in a long heritage of human space flights which NASA has done.
India has selected the group captain Shubhinu Shukla as primary astronaut and group captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, which is almost as his back-up on a fortnight long mission.
India is paying all costs for this training and flight to ISS. The estimated cost for this one-closed single seat on this private space mission is between $ 60 and $ 70 million. Since this mission is completely commercial and is likely to make a profit to NASA, it is unlikely to hit the mercurial mutual tariff war that has been unexpected by US President Donald Trump.
“The AX-4 crew is now ready for the final preparation before its slaughtered launch in May, which is ready to embrace the discoveries that are waiting for them in the low-earth orbit,” Axiom Space said.
The group Captain Shukla, nominated pilot, has actively trained in fighting fire, participated in an emergency, and also trained to provide first aid for the crew in case of injury. Mouth -to -face to provide revival was integral to training. The crew also trained in Europe in various activities, including adjusting the subtle gravitational environment.
The four-member crew was also given rigorous training in large water pools, as the final splashadown would be after the completion of the mission, most likely, in the Pacific Ocean and the crew is trained to handle all emergency situations if things are closed during the end entry phase.
The crew has also been trained as to how to use digital cameras to take photos in the orbital laboratory. One of the individual goals of flight patch Shukla is to prepare a daily photo documentation of its activities in space.
According to the Axiom Space, since August 2024, the AX-4 crew has focused on the space station operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Their preparation included a mixture of class instructions, simulator exercises and full-team scenarios within the realistic mockup of the space station module. This hand training covered everything from payload operations to security protocols, ensuring that the crew is ready to live in the microgravity environment of the station and work and fulfill their mission objectives.
In the Space Laboratory, the group Captain Shukla, a serving officer in the Indian Air Force, has been designed but simple and seem to be the primary experiments that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has chosen to fly to the ISS.
The partnership between Axiom Space and NASA provided extensive instructions and guidance to astronauts, taking advantage of the expertise and resources of both organizations.
At the successful completion of NASA training, the AX-4 crew celebrated NASA and Axiom with Space Mission Operations Teams during the traditional patch hanging ceremony.
In August 2024, the Indian ‘Gagnatris’ has also been trained in Russia and India before kicking NASA’s training.
Four decades after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s historic feat in 1984, group captain Shubhanshu Shukla will become the second Indian to travel in space. Incidentally, Shukla was not born even when Sharma started the historic first flight for the Russian space station in 1984.
His selection comes through the Indian Space Research Organization, which recognized him as a major astronaut for India’s upcoming Gaganan Mission. ISRO has collaborated with NASA and Axiom Space for this mission.
As part of the AX-4, he will serve as a mission pilot with three other astronauts: Pagi Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and mission commander, Slavos Uznanski-Visnivski Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
ISRO claims that “the experience during this mission will be beneficial for the Indian human space program and it will also strengthen the human space flight cooperation between ISRO and NASA”.
