Page 2 - Astronauts

Andhra girl named astronaut candidate for Titans Space programme in US

In a social media post, Dangeti Jahnavi, a native of Palakollu town in West Godavari district, announced that she had been selected as an ASCAN for Titans Space's inaugural class of 2025

Axiom-4 mission with Gaganyatri delayed to June 11, launch at 5:30 pm: Isro

Isro has postponed Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian Gaganyatri to the International Space Station to June 11, with launch now scheduled for 5:30 pm IST

Extremely fortunate to be part of space mission: Indian astronaut Shukla

Ahead of his historic journey to the International Space Station (ISS), Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has termed the preparations for the Axiom-4 mission as an "amazing journey" and that he was extremely fortunate to be part of something that is "much larger than yourself". The 39-year-old Indian Air Force pilot is all set to travel with three other crew members to the ISS onboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket, that will lift off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Tuesday at 5:52 pm IST. Shukla, who goes by the nickname "Shux", will be the second Indian to travel to space, 41 years after his idol Rakesh Sharma undertook a spaceflight in 1984 onboard erstwhile Soviet Union's Soyuz spacecraft for an eight-day stay in orbit. "It has been an amazing journey; these are the moments that really tell you that you are getting to be a part of something that is much larger than yourself. I can only say how extremely fortunate I am to be a part of this,"

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom-4 Mission set for launch on June 10

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others are set to embark on the Axiom Space's fourth human spaceflight from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 10 and are likely to dock at the International Space Station on June 11 at about 10 PM IST, after a nearly 28-hour journey. Shukla, the mission pilot of the Axiom-4 (Ax4) commercial mission to the ISS, will be accompanied by mission commander Peggy Whitson and specialists Tibor Kapu from Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland. The Axiom-4 mission will mark India's return to space 41 years after Rakesh Sharma's historic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz mission in 1984. "The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 12:30 p.m.EDT (10:00 p.m. IST), Wednesday, June 11," NASA said in a statement. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan visited Axiom Space last week to review the preparations fo

Canada's first astronaut, former Foreign Minister Marc Garneau, dies at 76

The government has eased contiguous land area norms for special economic zones (SEZs) which want to engage exclusively in the manufacturing of semiconductors or electronic components, according to a notification, "Where a Special Economic Zone is exclusively set up for the manufacturing of semiconductors or electronic components, the contiguous land area shall be ten hectares or more," the commerce ministry's notification has said. Earlier, this was 50 hectares. It added that for the purposes of this provision, the electronic components would include display module sub-assembly, camera module sub-assembly, battery sub-assembly, various types of other module sub-assemblies, printed circuit board, Li-ion cells for batteries, mobile and information technology hardware components, hearables and wearables. The notification also said that the Board of Approval (highest decision-making body for SEZs) can relax the condition of encumbrance-free area, in cases where the area is mortgaged or

No more rockets? Space elevator may soon carry astronauts to the Moon

A revolutionary study suggests a lunar space elevator built with current materials, potentially transforming the future of human space travel

Axiom 4 mission: India returns to space with IAF pilot Shubhanshu Shukla

IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will pilot Axiom 4 to the ISS, marking India's first human spaceflight since 1984 and a milestone in US-India cooperation and ISRO's Gaganyaan preparations

Indian astronaut set to travel to International Space Station on May 29

Axiom Space will launch its fourth mission to the International Space Station, carrying Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and three others, from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on May 29. The announcement was made by the Axiom Space at a virtual press conference on Tuesday. Shukla's travel to space comes four decades after Rakesh Sharma's iconic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. Besides Shukla, the Ax-4 crew includes members from Poland and Hungary, marking each nation's first mission to the International Space Station in history and the second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over 40 years. Slawosz Uznanski, European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut, will be the second Polish astronaut since 1978. Tibor Kapu will be the second national Hungarian astronaut since 1980. Peggy Whitson will command her second commercial human spaceflight mission, adding to her standing record for the longest cumulative time in space by an American

Space made me feel decades younger, says 70-year-old NASA astronaut

NASA's oldest full-time astronaut, Don Pettit, returned to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule after spending 220 days on the International Space Station

Nasa's oldest astronaut marks 70th birthday after returning from space

Nasa officials at the landing site reported that Don Pettit is in good condition and is undergoing routine medical checks

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla set for space travel next month: Jitendra Singh

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is set to travel to the International Space Station next month as part of an Axiom-4 mission, four decades after Rakesh Sharma's iconic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Friday. Singh made the remarks after reviewing the work of the Department of Space and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here. "Group Captain Shukla's journey is more than just a flight it's a signal that India is stepping boldly into a new era of space exploration," Singh said. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan made a presentation on various upcoming space missions. ISRO is set to launch the NISAR satellite developed jointly with NASA in June on board the GSLV-Mark 2 rocket, Singh said, adding that in July the space agency will put in orbit BlueBird Block-2 satellites of US-based AST SpaceMobile Inc. using the heavy-lift LVM-3 rocket. Singh said Group Captain Shukla's mission, scheduled for May, marks a milestone in India

Katy Perry among 6 women heading to space: Details of Blue Origin's mission

Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, and four other women are set to make history as part of Blue Origin's all-female crew for a suborbital space mission, launching on Monday from Texas

Why Sunita Williams may have returned taller from space after 288-day stay

From puffy face, fragile skin, to muscle and bone loss - what happens to the human body in space? Here's all we know

Sunita Williams' return highlights: Astronauts finally on Earth; 'Crew doing great,' says Nasa

Sunita Williams-Butch Wilmore return LIVE updates: Catch all the latest news on Nasa astronaut Sunita William's return here

Sunita Williams' homecoming: How do astronauts survive a fiery re-entry?

With Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore set to return to Earth after nearly nine months in space, let's look at how the astronauts' return takes place

Remembering Kalpana Chawla: 11 lesser-known facts about the space pioneer

Born in Karnal, Haryana, Kalpana was the first Indian woman who went to space. In her memory, the first Indian water satellite was named 'Kalpana 1.' Here are 11 lesser-known facts about her

Dizziness, baby feet: Challenges astronauts face upon return to earth

It may be fun to watch astronauts float around inside the International Space Station, but the absence of gravity has its effects on long-duration space travellers, who experience dizziness, nausea and an unstable gait when they return to earth. NASA astronauts Sunita Willams and Butch Wilmore, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday onboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. For Williams and Wilmore, test pilots for Boeing's new Starliner capsule, the eight-day mission stretched to more than nine months as a series of helium leaks and thruster failures deemed their spacecraft unsafe and had to return empty in September. Astronauts who have travelled on space missions earlier have reported facing difficulty in walking, having bad eyesight, dizziness, and a condition called baby feet where space travellers lose the thick part of the skin on the soles that become soft like a baby's. "Once the astronaut returns to Earth, they are immediately for

SpaceX Dragon docks with ISS to bring back stranded Nasa astronauts

After SpaceX Dragon's link-up to the forward facing port of the station's Harmony module, the crew members aboard Dragon and the space station will start conducting standard leak checks

Nasa's stuck astronauts welcome newly arrived replacements to space station

Just over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts. The four newcomers representing the US, Japan and Russia will spend the next few days learning the station's ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Indian-American Sunita Williams. Then the two will strap into their own SpaceX capsule later this week to close out an unexpected extended mission that began last June. Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week when they launched on Boeing's first astronaut flight. They hit the nine-month mark earlier this month. The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift. Their ride arrived in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back. But more delays resulted when their replacements' brand new capsule needed extens

SpaceX, Nasa launch mission to bring back Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore

Mission also launched four crew members to ISS: Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov