New York: ISRO astronaut and Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, Shubhanshu Shukla, will take on the role of pilot on the Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, that will go to the International Space Station (ISS) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Spring 2025, the US space agency has said.
Shukla will make history as the first Indian astronaut to visit the orbiting laboratory aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. A serving officer in the IAF, he has also been chosen as an astronaut for India’s Gaganyaan Mission.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and Director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shukla will serve as pilot, NASA said.
The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
"I am excited to see continued interest and dedication for the private astronaut missions aboard the International Space Station," said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
As NASA looks toward the future of low Earth orbit, private astronaut missions help pave the way and expand access to the unique microgravity environment, said the US space agency.
"Working with the talented and diverse Ax-4 crew has been a deeply rewarding experience," said Whitson.
Meanwhile, NASA said it is "working expeditiously" along with SpaceX to safely bring back Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and astronaut Butch Willmore, currently stuck in the International Space Station (ISS) for 238 days.
