National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Friday announced that the Axiom-4 mission, set to carry Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to space, has been delayed once again. This is the sixth time the Axiom-4 mission is being delayed. The mission was rescheduled for June 22 after technical snags, and NASA will announce the new date for the launch shortly.
The International Space Station (ISS) said in a statement, “NASA, Axiom Space and SpaceX continue reviewing launch opportunities for Axiom Mission 4. NASA is standing down from a launch on Sunday, June 22, and will target a new launch date in the coming days.”
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The space agency needs additional time to continue evaluating International Space Station operations after recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory’s Zvezda service module, the statement further said.
Because of the space station’s interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure the station is ready for additional crew members, and the agency is taking the time necessary to review data, the Axiom Space statement said.
Earlier, the Axiom-4 mission launch scheduled for June 19 was delayed till June 22 due to technical snags in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 spacecraft.
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Through the Axiom-4 launch, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is on the cusp of history, set to be only the second Indian to go to space, after astronaut Rakesh Sharma. Shukla will serve as the pilot for the mission, and assist the ISS scientists in carrying out multiple experiments in space.
Axiom Mission 4 will be commanded by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and now Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight. Shubhanshu Shukla from ISRO will serve as the mission’s pilot. The mission specialists are ESA project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
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Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission
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