Digital Desk: India is celebrating the successful launch of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, which features an international crew, including an Indian astronaut.
Born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Shubhanshu Shukla is one of the four astronauts selected for the mission.
Group Captain Shakla, piloting the SpaceX Dragon aircraft, has made history as the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station in four decades.
The last Indian to achieve this milestone was Rakesh Sharma, who flew to space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.
Shubhanshu Shukla is accompanied on the groundbreaking mission by former NASA astronaut and Commander for this mission Peggy Whitson, and mission specialists Poland's Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Hungary's Tibor Kapu.
The Axiom-4 was launched at 2:31 am Eastern Time (12:01 pm IST) on Wednesday, June 25 following multiple delays. The mission lifted off abroad a SpaceX Falcom-9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The crew is now en route to the orbiting laboratory aboard a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The targeted docking time is approximately 7.00 am Eastern Time (around 4:30 IST) on Thursday, June 26.
