India's Shubhanshu Shukla Takes a Ride on the Dragon Spacecraft Ahead of Historic ISS Flight
Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force experiences his first ride on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft as he prepares for his historic flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in spring 2025 as part of Axiom Space's Ax-4 mission.
Shukla
India's Shubhanshu Shukla is intensively preparing for his space mission scheduled for next year. The Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force is currently in the United States, gearing up for his flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in the spring of 2025. He is part of Axiom Space's Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, which marks the company's fourth private endeavour in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX.
In a post on X, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, now associated with Axiom Space, shared that training is well underway. She also introduced the three other astronauts who will join her on this space journey, highlighting their first encounter with SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.
"Training for Ax-4 has begun, and I already feel right at home. After a comprehensive onboarding process in Houston, we traveled to @SpaceX in Hawthorne for suit measurements and pressurization tests. The crew also had their first introduction to Dragon!" Whitson captioned her post, which featured a picture of the crew members seated inside the four-person Dragon capsule.
The Ax-4 crew, alongside Shukla and Whitson, includes Sławosz Uznański from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, who will serve as mission specialists. Shukla and Whitson will take on the roles of mission pilot and mission commander, respectively. Additionally, another Indian astronaut candidate, Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, is training alongside Shukla as a backup in case any crew member is unable to participate in the flight.
Shukla and Nair arrived in Houston, Texas, in the first week of August. Although SpaceX had originally planned to launch the crew in October, the mission has been delayed due to other priorities.
Once the launch occurs, Shukla will become the first Indian to visit the ISS, where he is expected to spend up to two weeks aboard the orbiting laboratory, potentially conducting several experiments during his stay. Meanwhile, the astronauts will continue their training to adapt to a microgravity environment and learn how to manage potential emergency situations.
