Axiom-4 astronauts witness 230 sunrises, travel nearly 100 lakh km in space
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New Delhi: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and his Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew have completed an eventful two-week journey aboard the International Space Station (ISS), witnessing over 230 sunrises and travelling nearly 100 lakh kilometres in orbit. The crew, comprising Shukla, Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Tibor Kapu, is now awaiting NASA’s confirmation of their return date to Earth after taking their final off-duty day onboard.
According to Axiom Space, the Ax-4 mission has completed around 230 orbits around Earth, covering over six million miles (approximately 96.5 lakh kilometres). From nearly 250 miles above the planet, the astronauts used their downtime to capture images and videos of Earth, enjoy the panoramic views from space, and connect with their families.
These brief moments of rest were a pause from their otherwise packed daily schedule. The Ax-4 mission includes more than 60 experiments, making it the most research-intensive private astronaut mission conducted by Axiom Space so far. The research spans biomedical science, neuroscience, agriculture, space technology, and advanced materials.
The crew’s scientific work holds the promise of transformative advancements for both space exploration and life on Earth, with potential breakthroughs in diabetes management, cancer treatment, and human health monitoring. As the team continues their research in microgravity, they demonstrate the valuable contributions of commercial missions to science and the future of human spaceflight.
Axiom Space highlighted the mission’s broader goal of paving the way for a future where communities live and work in low-Earth orbit and eventually beyond. “Every test tube, data point, and observation brings us one step closer to a global community living and working in low-Earth orbit and, eventually, beyond,” the company said.
The Ax-4 mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 25. After a 28-hour journey, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the ISS on June 26.
With PTI inputs
