Axiom-4 Mission: Key Highlights
- NASA veteran Peggy Whitson, 65, returned from her 5th space mission, commanding Axiom-4.
- The crew included astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary, marking each country’s first ISS mission.
- SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule landed safely off the coast of Southern California on Tuesday at 2:30 a.m. PDT.
- Capsule “Grace” endured 3,500°F reentry, slowed by dual parachutes, and splashed down at ~15 mph.
- Whitson now holds a U.S. record: 695 days in space over five missions.
- The team conducted 60+ microgravity experiments over an 18-day stay on the ISS.
- Crew members:
- Shubhanshu Shukla (India) – IAF pilot; key step toward India’s Gaganyaan mission (2027).
- Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland) – ESA astronaut.
- Tibor Kapu (Hungary) – part of Hungary’s HUNOR program.
- Shubhanshu Shukla (India) – IAF pilot; key step toward India’s Gaganyaan mission (2027).
- Their return was part of the 4th Axiom-SpaceX private mission to the ISS.
- Axiom aims to build a private space station to succeed the ISS by 2030.
This marks SpaceX’s 18th crewed flight since 2020.
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