‘Joy, a reflection of the cultural mix on board': Axiom-4's '5th crew member' has Shubhanshu Shukla's 6-year-old son's touch
BENGALURU: The Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission will have a fifth "crew member"- "Joy", a soft, white toy baby swan that will travel with them to space as their zero-gravity indicator. But Joy isn't just a charming mascot.
Her selection carries a quiet imprint from back home: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's six-year-old son, Kiash, who's also called Sid.
The crew - commander Peggy Whitson, Shukla as pilot, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary - unveiled the toy, symbolising grace and elegance, late Tuesday. Kapu said: "Our first ideas all included animals, because we have one kid with the crew, Shux's kid, Sid who basically just loves animals...
You know, show any animal to him, he will love it. We wanted to go with dinosaurs and lions, but we just couldn't find the right one, and we were extremely happy when we found Joy.
"
About why they named the swan "Joy", mission commander Peggy Whitson said that it was Kapu who actually came up with her name. "Why we selected the name, per se, might become more obvious once you hear the name of the vehicle. So, you'll have to wait for that," Whitson said.
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Axiom and the crew have kept the name of the vehicle - now just designated with a number - under wraps. It is expected to be announced either ahead of the launch or after.
"...In Indian culture, the swan is the vehicle of goddess Saraswati, symbolising wisdom, learning, and purity. It is said to have the rare ability to separate milk from water, a symbolism that's a powerful reminder of discernment in an age of distraction.
To carry the symbol is to carry the essence of formation, pursuit of knowledge, clarity of purpose, and grace under pressure," Shukla said.
Whitson described Joy as a reflection of the cultural mix on board. "More than just a companion, Joy will signal our arrival in microgravity shortly after launch. Through Joy, we'll celebrate our diversity and our unity in the shared journey of space exploration," she said. Axiom Space confirmed that the swan will serve as the zero-G indicator - a floating object that provides a visual cue of the transition into microgravity after launch.
Plush toys have long served this role in space missions, particularly in commercial flights.
But Joy, Axiom said, is more than just a functional object. "Joy the baby swan embodies the shared pursuit of Isro, European Space Agency (ESA) and ] Hungarian to Orbit programme (Hunor) to soar high above our home planet. In this way, Joy represents cultural unity as three nations realise the return to human spaceflight together as one crew," the company said.
Axiom added that the swan carries symbolic meanings across cultures. In India, it represents wisdom and purity; in Poland, it stands for loyalty and resilience; and in Hungary, it reflects grace and nature's beauty. "By choosing a swan as the zero-G indicator, the Ax-4 crew celebrates the diversity of their cultures, united in the shared human experience of space exploration," Axiom said.
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