Axiom 4 Mission: India’s Shubhanshu Shukla finally lift off to ISS successfully

New Delhi (India) June 26: At 2.31 am, the Falcon-9 rocket took off from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, bringing in a new era for India. India's Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla sat in the pilot's seat of 'Dragon', the Axiom-4 spacecraft that was scheduled to take a four-person team to the ISS on Thursday.

Shukla became the first Indian to cross the "Karman line" in more than 41 years after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's journey aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984. India's goal to have its own space station by 2035 and to send crewed missions to the Moon and beyond is reflected in Shukla's message from space.

Both the Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon-9 rocket took launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The spacecraft will begin its 14-day mission with the crew when it docks at the ISS on June 26.

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla addressed India in Hindi and said, “What a ride! Namaskar mere pyare Deshvasiyo. What a ride! We’ve returned to space after 40 years and it was a fantastic ride. Right now, we are orbiting Earth at a velocity of about 7.5km/sec.”

According to SpaceX, Axiom Space, and NASA, the Dragon spacecraft is predicted to make an attempt to dock with the ISS at approximately 7 AM EST.

NASA said, “The spacecraft will dock autonomously to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 7 a.m. on Thursday, June 26." 

The four astronauts drove a Tesla to the launchpad after waving to their family. As the countdown continued, the crew was strapped into the Dragon capsule and subjected to final checks. Nine minutes and 38 seconds after liftoff, the capsule broke away from the second stage and started its journey to the International Space Station. At 4.30 p.m. IST on Thursday, the capsule now known as "Grace" is scheduled to dock with the ISS.

Nine minutes after launch, the dragon capsule "Grace" broke away from Falcon 9 and is currently orbiting the planet at 27,000 kmph. The nose cone is out. As the spacecraft starts its precise chase of the International Space Station, its navigation equipment and docking sensors are revealed.

Grace's journey is regularly updated compared to the ISS's path by onboard systems that use GPS, radar, and sensors to track position in real time.

Shukla, the designated pilot for the Ax-4, is the first Indian to hold an important operational position on an ISS mission and the only Indian to reach space.

On Wednesday, the Axiom-4 mission, which had been delayed several times, took off with commander Peggy Whitson (US), mission pilot Shukla and mission specialists Sławosz Uznanski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) on a 14-day journey to the International Space Station.

Aadrika Tayal