Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is all set to become the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS), marking a new chapter in India’s space exploration history. The launch of this mission, which was to take place on June 8, has now been deferred to June 10, owing to unfavorable weather conditions anticipated during the transportation of the rocket and the last moments of preparation.
The confirmation of the change of date was given by the crew in a virtual presser from their quarantine base in Florida, and an official NASA statement was also issued.
Axiom Mission 4: ISRO and NASA Combine
The mission, identified as Axiom Mission 4 (AX-4), is a collaborative venture of NASA, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the European Space Agency (ESA), and a private aerospace firm called Axiom Space. Shukla is scheduled to take a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft journey that will be lifted by a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Shukla Becomes The First Indian To Fly To ISS
Shubhanshu Shukla is the only Indian who will go to the Space Station and also the first Indian in the last 40 years whose name was submitted to the list of space travelers, after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 spaceflight. Besides, he is still one of those four astronauts who were selected from ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission, which is the human spaceflight program of India.
ISRO Invests 500 Crore
Shukla’s seat and training for this mission are reportedly covered by ISRO, which has put ₹500 crore (59 million US dollars) into it they considering this experience as the most crucial preparatory work for future Indian space programs.
The revised launch to be carried out on June 10 at 8:22 a.m. EDT makes people in the whole country very excited. Shukla’s flight to the ISS is a step not only for himself but also for India as a country that wants to participate in spaceflight and work together with other countries.
