Return of Sunita Williams and historical flight of Shubhanshu Shukla

Indian -origin American astronaut Sunita Williams made a successful comeback on Earth this morning through SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft after spending 286 days into space. This spacecraft landed safely on the coast of Florida at 3:27 am (IST) at 3:27 am on Wednesday. With this successful comeback, the world is now eyeing the upcoming Exium Mission-4, in which the Indian Air Force Test Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla will travel to space for the first time.

Shubhanshu Shukla: India’s first private astronaut

The AX-4 mission, which is about to launch in Vasant 2025, will be a historical moment for India’s space history. In this mission, Shubhanshu Shukla, who is a Test pilot of the Indian Air Force and is associated with the Gaganyaan Mission, will visit the International Space Station (ISS).

Major things of AX-4 mission:

• It will be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida through a dragon vehicle of SpaceX.
• The duration of the mission will be around 14 days.
• The mission will play the role of NASA’s former astronaut Pegi Whitson Commander.
• He will be accompanied by two astronauts of the European Space Agency (ESA) Savosh Ujnanski-Visnivsky (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).
• The team will be involved in various scientific research, educational activities and professional projects.
• This will be the first time an Indian astronaut will go to ISS under the private mission.

AX-4 Mission: Big Achievement for India

This mission not only reflects the increasing partnership of private companies in space, but also strengthens the cooperation of ISRO and NASA between India and the US.

NASA’s ISS program manager Dana Weigel said,
“Private Space Mission, opening new opportunities for microgravity research and making human space flight wider.”

Gaganyaan Mission will benefit

India is looking at this mission as a test case for the Gaganyaan Mission. ISRO will keep a close watch on this mission, as the experiences from it will be very important for Gaganyaan.

Future Plan: Asia’s first private space station

The Exium Space Company plans to develop the world’s first private space station in the future. The AX-4 mission is an important step in this direction.

What will change with AX-4 mission?

India will get a new identity in global space operations.
Indian astronauts will start getting a place in international missions.
There will be important experience for Gaganyaan Mission.
In future, India will be able to develop its own space operations fast.

Successful withdrawal of Sunita Williams: End of 9 months mission

Sunita Williams and Buch Wilmor flew to ISS on 5 June 2024 via Boeing Starlineer Spacecraft, but they were trapped there due to technical flaws. NASA later decided that Starlineer would be brought back without a crew.

Now 9 months later, they have returned to Earth with SpaceX Dragon’s Crew-9 mission. The mission also included NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Rososmos Cosmonot Alexander Gorbunov.

This mission, which was initially prescribed for just 8 days, was stretched for 9 months due to technical flaws.

On the return of Sunita Williams, there was a wave of happiness in India.

• Fireworks and celebrations were celebrated in Jhulasan village of Gujarat, which is Sunita’s ancestral village.
• This became a proud moment for Indian space lovers.