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India Today
10 hours ago
- Science
- India Today
Launch of Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla postponed for the 7th time. Here's why
Just over a day after announcing the launch of the Ax-4 mission to space on June 22, Nasa has pulled the plug again. This marks the seventh postponement of the much-awaited launch of the private mission with Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Ax-4 mission was initially planned to launch on May 29, 2025. However, technical snags, weather conditions and leaks aboard the Space Station have repeatedly pushed the mission beyond its timeline. advertisementThe 14-day mission was scheduled to liftoff on Sunday before Nasa announced an indefinite delay to the IS AX-4 LAUNCH POSTPONED THIS TIME? The latest postponement follows Nasa's concerns over a recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory's Zvezda service module."The space agency needs additional time to continue evaluating International Space Station operations after recent repair work ," Nasa said in an update. It added, "because of the space station's interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure the station is ready for additional crew members, and the agency is taking the time necessary to review data."The American space agency confirmed that the crew remains in quarantine in Florida, and the astronauts stand ready to launch when the station is ready to receive Whitson, former Nasa astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are European Space Agency project astronaut Sawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary."It is not uncommon for the agency and its international partners to adjust launches around changes in operations aboard the space station. Teams are making progress evaluating the transfer tunnel configuration, resulting in an updated launch opportunity for the private astronaut mission," Nasa had said. The decision comes as Nasa requires more time to evaluate ISS operations. (Photo: Axiom) ISRO MONITORING CLOSELYWith the launch now delayed almost a month and no next date announced yet, the Indian space agency is rushing to replenish the biological samples planned for the Space Indian astronaut is scheduled to conduct seven space-based studies in the flying laboratory, while the entire mission will see over 60 such experiments to enhance our understanding of biological and physiological processes in space. The Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, originally scheduled for May 29, 2025, faced several delays due to technical and weather-related setbacks. It was first postponed to June 8 after issues with the Crew Dragon's electrical harness, then pushed to June 9 due to Falcon 9 readiness delays. Poor weather in the ascent corridor led to another slip to June pre-launch tests, an oxygen leak and an engine actuator anomaly were found on June 8. After replacing the faulty components, the launch was rescheduled for June 11 and then to June 12 before it was pushed to June 22 owing to leaks detected aboard the InMust Watch
India Today
13-05-2025
- Health
- India Today
Axiom-4 astronauts to study cancer tumour growth in space
India could be part of a major experiment being launched to the International Space Station to study early warning signs of cancer and develop advanced therapeutics for patients on experiment will be launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of the Axiom-4 mission on May 29, piloted by India's Group Captain Shubhanshu study has been developed in collaboration with the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at UC San Diego and the JM MICROGRAVITY: A UNIQUE LABORATORYThe microgravity environment of space offers a unique setting to study cancer cell missions have shown that cancer stem cells can regenerate more easily and become more resistant to standard therapies in low-Earth tumour organoids have been observed to triple in size within just 10 days in space, providing a compressed timeline to study cancer progression and potential interventions. The Ax-4 mission will feature four astronauts from four countries. (Photo: Axiom Space) TARGETING TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCERBuilding on earlier findings, the Cancer in LEO-3 investigation will focus on triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form with limited treatment plan to test the efficacy of two ADAR1 inhibitors: fedratinib, an anti-cancer medication used to treat myeloproliferative diseases including myelofibrosis, and rebecsinib, an experimental anticancer medication derived by modification of the natural product Pladienolide study aims to determine if these drugs can reverse malignant regeneration and prevent cancer progression in microgravity ASTRONAUTS STEM CELL HEALTHIn addition to studying cancer cells, the project includes a longitudinal study monitoring astronauts' blood stem cells before, during, and after research aims to understand how microgravity affects stem cell aging and immune function, potentially leading to insights into immune dysfunction-related diseases and cancer FOR EARTH-BASED TREATMENTSThe insights gained from these space-based experiments could revolutionise cancer treatment on understanding how cancer cells behave in microgravity, scientists hope to develop predictive models for cancer and immune dysfunction-related diseases, leading to the development of new drugs to prevent or treat these conditions.
