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Mission space: Isro to gain immensely from Axiom-4 with Gaganaut experience
Isro trained Group Captain Shukla for the ISS mission and this is important since it has never run a manned mission (India's first man in space, back in 1984, was trained in the Soviet cosmonaut prog)
Business Standard Editorial Comment Mumbai
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Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's piloting of the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will enable India's first Gaganaut to gain hands-on experience of handling a spacecraft and spending a long sojourn in space. Group Captain Shukla will pilot the Falcon spacecraft, which has been designed and built by SpaceX. Axiom-4, which runs under the aegis of the foundation Axiom Space, features a four-person team from India, Poland, Hungary, and the United States (US). It will carry out over 60 scientific experiments, devised by scientists from 31 countries, including the US, India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, and several European
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Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
More comfort, safety: How Shubhanshu Shukla's space travel experience will differ from Rakesh Sharma's
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is likely to have a very different experience of space travel compared to Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to accomplish the feat in a Soviet mission way back in 1984. Shukla will become the second Indian in space as part of the Axiom 4 private mission, which was scheduled to launch earlier this week and reach the International Space Station (ISS), but has now been postponed. The intervening years following Sharma's trip have seen a dramatic evolution of technologies that have made human spaceflights safer, easier, and much more comfortable. There has been a spurt in human spaceflights in recent years, particularly with the arrival of private players, who have been instrumental in expediting the pace of technological change. This has also enabled a growing number of people who are not professional astronauts or linked to any space agency to venture into space. Both the hardware and software of human spaceflight have changed considerably. Computational ability and automation Today's spacecraft are more automated and require fewer interventions from the astronauts travelling inside. 'The computational capability of the spacecraft, indeed the entire mission, has increased several times over the last four decades. The kind of automations that are available to the astronauts now were certainly not there when Rakesh Sharma went to space,' said R Umamaheshwaran, the former head of ISRO's Human Space Flight Centre in Bengaluru. 'For example, any small manoeuvres that were needed to correct the alignment of the spacecraft in the 1980s would have to be done manually by looking at the horizon and stars through the porthole. Now, of course, all of this is fully automated,' Umamaheshwaran said. Improvements in machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms have allowed scientists on the ground to create hyper-realistic simulations of space for astronauts, something not possible in the 1980s. 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The Hindu
5 hours ago
- The Hindu
Why has the Axiom-4 mission been delayed?
The story so far: On June 10, Axiom Space announced that the launch of its Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) would be postponed indefinitely. The mission crew included India's astronaut-designate Shubhanshu Shukla, who — if the rocket had lifted off as planned — would have become the first Indian in earth orbit after 40 years and the first Indian onboard the ISS. What is the Axiom-4 mission? The Axiom-4 mission is the fourth mission planned by US-based spaceflight company Axiom Space to the ISS. It consists of a crew of four people — Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Tobir Kapu — plus cargo. To facilitate the mission, NASA had contracted Axiom, which in turn had contracted the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon crew capsule for the mission from SpaceX. The mission is commercial in nature and isn't part of the regular resupply missions NASA undertakes to the ISS. Following an announcement to strengthen India-US ties in 2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spent more than Rs 500 crore for Mr. Shukla to fly on the mission. Mr. Shukla is one of the four astronaut-designates for ISRO's forthcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission. His compatriot Prasanth Nair is part of the Axiom-4 backup crew. Why was the launch called off? Ahead of Thursday's flight, SpaceX had tested one of the rocket's engines as a matter of procedure and discovered it was leaking liquid oxygen (LOX). LOX is a cryogenic fuel, meaning it needs to be stored at an extremely low temperature. If LOX is exposed to warmer conditions, the oxygen will turn into gas and not be usable as fuel (since it's very difficult to pump gases). Falcon 9 engines combust a mix of rocket-grade kerosene and LOX to generate thrust, meaning a LOX leak is a serious issue. The Axiom-4 mission had first been scheduled for liftoff on May 29 but had to be postponed to June 8, June 10, and June 11. There was a back-up launch window on June 12. The delays were a result of a combination of unfavourable conditions related to the weather and the launch vehicle. The crew thus continues its wait. Why has no new date been announced? Since a LOX leak is a serious issue, SpaceX needs to find the precise source of the leak and why the underlying component(s) failed. How much time this will take is unclear. There are also particular launch 'windows' (specific moments in time) when a launch can deliver the crew to the ISS with minimal fuel and energy use, including the amount of time the crew capsule will be exposed to sunlight and generate solar power without overheating. But because the ISS is so close to the earth, launch windows appear more frequently than those for the moon or Mars. NASA has already indicated there are more opportunities through June and July. Other factors that affect the suitability of a launch window include time on the launch pad for liftoff and access to free docking ports on the ISS. The US's NASA, Russia's Roscosmos, and (less often) some other space agencies also send missions to the ISS and need to plan when and for how long their capsules are docked. How hard is it to fix a LOX leak? When it leaks, LOX flashes to an invisible vapour almost instantly and can be blown away by winds or fans nearby. Detecting it often entails time-consuming, labour-intensive work. Many joints in the components associated with storing and pumping LOX are insulated with foam or are located in nooks, meaning many regular leak-detecting methods can't physically reach them. Materials contract at cryogenic temperatures (around 90 K), so a hole may appear closed at ambient temperature but open at cryogenic temperatures. So once a hole has been fixed, engineers may need to repeat tests at both warm and cold conditions or test with liquid nitrogen to mimic operating conditions. Testing with LOX itself can be hazardous. Fortunately experts have been working with cryogenic engines for long enough to know which tools to use and which processes to follow once the leak has been identified. They include visual inspection, bubble tests, helium signature tests, flow-meter tests, ultrasonic microphones, and thermal imaging.
Hans India
5 hours ago
- Hans India
Technical glitch mars Ax-4 launch
New Delhi: The Axiom-4 mission, which was scheduled to carry Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station on Tuesday, was put off again to fix a leak in the SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket. SpaceX announced that it was "standing down" from the Falcon-9 launch to allow time for repairs after a post-static inspection of the rocket's boosters identified a liquid oxygen leak. "Once complete and pending Range availability, we will share a new launch date," SpaceX said in an X post. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said the liquid oxygen leak was detected in the propulsion bay during a seven-second hot test on the launch pad. The hot test was to validate the performance of the booster stage of Falcon-9 launch vehicle. "The ISRO team discussed with experts at Axiom and SpaceX and it was decided that the leak would be fixed and necessary validation tests conducted before clearing for the launch,' Narayanan said. Hence, the Axiom-4 launch slated on June 11, 2025 to send the first Indian Gaganyatri to the International Space Station stands postponed, the ISRO chairman said. Axiom Space spokesperson said that SpaceX teams identified a liquid oxygen leak that requires additional work.
