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Shubhanshu Shukla’s wait for trip to International Space Station gets longer, NASA puts off Axiom-4 mission

New York: NASA has put off Sunday’s launch of the Axiom-4 mission. The space agency wants to ensure that all safety measures are in place before Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and 3 other astronauts take off for the International Space Station, reported NDTV. They seem to be practicising the saying “Better safe, than sorry”. While the mission will now no longer be launched on June 22, no new date has been announced for the launch so far.

Seventh delay in Axiom-4 life off

We must note that this is the seventh delay in the Axiom-4 lift off. The delay has been attributed to the recent repair works carried out at the ISS. NASA is reportedly evaluating the repair works before sending a new set of crew to the space station.

In a statement, the International Space Station said, “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.”

The crew of the spaceship has been in quarantine since May 14 in Florida. They continue to remain in quarantine “to maintain all medical and safety protocols.” The astronauts are ready to fly to space as and when the take off gets cleared.

The window for the lift is open till June 30. However if the Axiom fails to launch till that day too, another launch opportunity would come only in mid-July.

What is the Axiom-4 mission?

Axiom 4 Mission is a planned private space flight to the International Space Station. It is being operated by Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX and NASA. The commander of the commercial mission is Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight. India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, who is an astronaut from ISRO will pilot the aircraft.

Shukla will become only the second India to go to space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma made history in 1984.The 2 mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.