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Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Private Ax-4 astronauts splash down aboard SpaceX capsule to conclude ISS mission (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Welcome home! Four astronauts have returned to Earth following more than two weeks living aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Axiom Space's fourth crewed mission to the ISS, known as Ax-4, concluded early this morning, with the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule "Grace" splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT; locally, 2:32 a.m. PDT). Grace undocked from the ISS yesterday (July 14) at 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115 GMT), beginning the 22-hour final leg of the crew's journey in space. On the mission, Ax-4 commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and currently Axiom's director of human spaceflight, extended her record for cumulative days spent by an American in space to 695. Whitson was joined by a trio of first-time astronauts from three different countries, none of which had ever sent a citizen to the ISS before. Shubhanshu "Shux" Shukla, who served as Ax-4's pilot, hails from India. He is a pilot in the Indian Air Force and one of four astronauts selected for the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, expected sometime in 2027. Ax-4 mission specialist Sławosz "Suave" Uznański-Wiśniewski, from Poland, is a member of the European Space Agency's (ESA's) astronaut reserve program, and Tibor Kapu, a mission specialist from Hungary, is a member of HUNOR, Hungary's orbital astronaut program. Axiom-4 Crew: Commander Peggy Whitson Pilot Shubhanshu "Shux" Shukla Mission Specialist Sławosz "Suave" Uznański-Wiśniewski Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu Ax-4 launched on June 26 from storied Launch Complex-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew aboard Grace lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and docked with the space station a day later. Their mission was expected to last about two weeks but was extended by four days to achieve favorable orbital phasing during their return. While aboard the ISS, the Ax-4 crew carried out a record number of science investigations and public outreach events. With contributions from a total of 31 different countries, Ax-4 astronauts completed more than 60 experiments and technology demonstrations — more than any previous Axiom mission. Starship Die Cast Rocket Model Now $47.99 on Amazon. If you can't see SpaceX's Starship in person, you can score a model of your own. Standing at 13.77 inches (35 cm), this is a 1:375 ratio of SpaceX's Starship as a desktop model. The materials here are alloy steel and it weighs just Deal Related Stories: — SpaceX launches historic private Axiom-4 astronaut mission to the ISS (video) — Axiom Space: Building the off-Earth economy — Axiom-4 astronauts on SpaceX Crew Dragon welcomed aboard International Space Station (video) Ax-4's splashdown this morning followed about 22.5 hours on orbit after their departure from the ISS. After nearly a full day flying their return trajectory, the crew's final minutes before splashdown passed relatively quickly. Grace began its atmospheric descent at approximately 5:18 a.m. EDT (0918 GMT; locally, 2:18 am PT). Having survived the char of the most unforgiving layers of Earth's upper atmosphere, the spacecraft's drogue parachutes deployed to stabilize its plummet. Shortly thereafter, the Dragon's four main chutes unfolded to slow the capsule's descent even further. The Ax-4 spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it was met by the SpaceX Dragon recovery vessel "Shannon." Once safely hoisted aboard "Shannon," the Ax-4 crew will disembark Grace to begin acclimating to Earth's gravity once again. This is only SpaceX's second West Coast crew recovery, after the Crew-9 mission to the ISS came down this past March. SpaceX has shifted permanently Pacific Ocean spacecraft recoveries to avoid possible instances of pieces of Dragon's trunk surviving atmospheric reentry and crashing back to Earth, which were reported during some Atlantic Ocean and Gulf returns. The empty space station docking port left behind after Ax-4's undocking won't remain so for long. The next astronauts launching to the ISS are slated for liftoff no earlier than July 31. That mission, SpaceX's Crew-11, will launch a crew rotation for NASA that's expected to last between six and eight months. Solve the daily Crossword
News18
3 days ago
- Science
- News18
Group Capt Shubhanshu Shukla Returns To Earth After Historic Space Mission 4K Video
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, India's trailblazing astronaut aboard the Axiom-4 mission, returned safely to Earth on Tuesday afternoon, marking a historic milestone for Indian space exploration. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Grace, carrying Shukla and three other astronauts, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at around 3pm IST, off the coast of mission makes Shukla the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) and only the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma's 1984 Soviet mission. News18 Mobile App -
Reuters
4 days ago
- Science
- Reuters
Astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary return with NASA veteran from space station
LOS ANGELES, July 15 (Reuters) - NASA retiree turned private astronaut Peggy Whitson splashed down safely in the Pacific early on Tuesday after her fifth trip to the International Space Station, joined by crewmates from India, Poland and Hungary returning from their countries' first ISS mission. A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-member team parachuted into calm seas off the Southern California coast at around 2:30 a.m. PDT (0930 GMT) following a fiery reentry through Earth's atmosphere that capped a 22-hour descent from orbit. The return flight concluded the fourth ISS mission organized by Texas-based startup Axiom Space in collaboration with SpaceX, the private rocket venture of billionaire Elon Musk headquartered near Los Angeles. The return was carried live by a joint SpaceX-Axiom webcast. Two sets of parachutes, visible through the darkness and light fog with infrared cameras, slowed the capsule's final descent to about 15 mph (24 kph) moments before its splashdown off San Diego. Minutes earlier, the spacecraft had been streaking like a mechanical meteor through Earth's lower atmosphere, generating enough frictional heat to send temperatures outside the capsule soaring to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,927 degrees Celsius). The astronauts' flight suits are designed to keep them cool as the cabin heats up. The Axiom-4 crew was led by Whitson, 65, who retired from NASA in 2018 after a pioneering career that included becoming the U.S. space agency's first female chief astronaut and the first woman ever to command an ISS expedition. She radioed to mission control that the crew was "happy to be back" moments after their return. A recovery ship was immediately dispatched to secure the capsule and hoist it from the ocean onto the deck of the vessel. The crew members were to be extricated from the capsule one by one and undergo medical checkups before the recovery vessel ferries them to shore, a process expected to take about an hour. Now director of human spaceflight for Axiom, Whitson has now logged 695 days in space, a U.S. record, during three previous NASA missions, a fourth flight to orbit as commander of the Axiom-2 crew in 2023 and her fifth mission to the ISS commanding Axiom-4. Rounding out the Axiom-4 crew were Shubhanshu Shukla, 39, of India, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, 41, of Poland, and Tibor Kapu, 33, of Hungary. They returned with a cargo of science samples from more than 60 microgravity experiments conducted during their 18-day visit to the ISS and due for shipment to researchers back on Earth for final analysis. For India, Poland and Hungary, the launch marked the first human spaceflight of each country in more than 40 years and the first mission ever to send astronauts from their government's respective space programs to the ISS. The participation of Shukla, an Indian air force pilot, is seen by India's space program as a precursor of sorts to the debut crewed mission of its Gaganyaan orbital spacecraft, planned for 2027. Uznanski-Wisniewski is a Polish astronaut assigned to the European Space Agency, while Kapu is part of his country's Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) program, though he is not the first person of Hungarian descent to board the space station. Billionaire Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian-born software designer who became a U.S. citizen in 1982, has twice visited the ISS as a space tourist, in 2007 and 2009, hitching rides aboard Russian Soyuz capsules. But like many wealthy individuals from various countries who have paid their own way for joyrides to space, Simonyi was not flying on behalf of his homeland or any government. Dubbed "Grace" by its crew, the newly commissioned capsule flown for Axiom-4 was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral in Florida on June 25, becoming the fifth vehicle in SpaceX's Crew Dragon fleet. The Ax-4 team arrived at the ISS on June 26, welcomed aboard by the station's latest rotating crew of seven occupants - three U.S. astronauts, one Japanese crewmate and three Russian cosmonauts. The two crews parted company again early on Monday when Crew Dragon Grace undocked to begin its voyage home. Axiom-4 also marks the 18th crewed spaceflight logged by SpaceX since 2020, when Musk's rocket company ushered in a new NASA era by providing American astronauts their first rides to space from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle program nine years earlier. For Axiom, a 9-year-old venture co-founded by NASA's former ISS program manager, the mission builds on its business of putting astronauts sponsored by private companies and foreign governments into low-Earth orbit. Axiom also is one of a handful of companies developing a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Cabinet adopts resolution hailing astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's space odyssey
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday adopted a resolution lauding Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla for his historic space mission . Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, said Shukla's mission took India a step closer to realising its dream of having its own space station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying Shukla and three international crew members splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 3:01 PM IST on Tuesday. Shortly after, the four astronauts emerged from the Dragon capsule, waving and smiling. Shukla's journey was part of a commercial mission operated by Axiom Space, with support from ISRO and NASA . He is expected to return to India by August 17 after completing post-mission protocols in the United States, said Union Minister Jitendra Singh. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Emas Melonjak di 2025 — Trader Cerdas Sudah Masuk IC Markets Pelajari Undo The Gaganyaan mission, India's maiden human spaceflight programme , aims to send Indian astronauts to space aboard an indigenous spacecraft. Shukla's successful mission is seen as a vital step towards that goal. With inputs from agencies Live Events
Observer
5 days ago
- Science
- Observer
Astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary return from space station
LOS ANGELES: NASA retiree turned private astronaut Peggy Whitson splashed down safely in the Pacific early on Tuesday after her fifth trip to the International Space Station, joined by crewmates from India, Poland and Hungary returning from their countries' first ISS mission. A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-member team parachuted into calm seas off the Southern California coast at around 2:30 a.m. PDT (0930 GMT) following a fiery reentry through Earth's atmosphere that capped a 22-hour descent from orbit. The return flight concluded the fourth ISS mission organized by Texas-based startup Axiom Space in collaboration with SpaceX, the private rocket venture of billionaire Elon Musk headquartered near Los Angeles. The return was carried live by a joint SpaceX-Axiom webcast. Two sets of parachutes, visible through the darkness and light fog with infrared cameras, slowed the capsule's final descent to about 15 mph (24 kph) moments before its splashdown off San Diego. Minutes earlier, the spacecraft had been streaking like a mechanical meteor through Earth's lower atmosphere, generating enough frictional heat to send temperatures outside the capsule soaring to 1,927 degrees Celsius. The astronauts' flight suits are designed to keep them cool as the cabin heats up. The Axiom-4 crew was led by Whitson, 65, who retired from NASA in 2018 after a pioneering career that included becoming the U.S. space agency's first female chief astronaut and the first woman ever to command an ISS expedition. She radioed to mission control that the crew was "happy to be back" moments after their return. A recovery ship was immediately dispatched to secure the capsule and hoist it from the ocean onto the deck of the vessel. The crew members were to be extricated from the capsule one by one and undergo medical checkups before the recovery vessel ferries them to shore, a process expected to take about an hour. Now director of human spaceflight for Axiom, Whitson has now logged 695 days in space, a US record, during three previous NASA missions, a fourth flight to orbit as commander of the Axiom-2 crew in 2023 and her fifth mission to the ISS commanding Axiom-4. Rounding out the Axiom-4 crew were Shubhanshu Shukla, 39, of India, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, 41, of Poland, and Tibor Kapu, 33, of Hungary. They returned with a cargo of science samples from more than 60 microgravity experiments conducted during their 18-day visit to the ISS and due for shipment to researchers back on Earth for final analysis. For India, Poland and Hungary, the launch marked the first human spaceflight of each country in more than 40 years and the first mission ever to send astronauts from their government's respective space programmes to the ISS. — Reuters
