On June 10, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is set to begin an exciting adventure to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. His flight was initially scheduled for June 8 but has now been moved to a later date. Shubhanshu will travel to space in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, a special spacecraft that can carry four astronauts and safely bring them back to Earth after their mission. This spacecraft has just arrived at its preparation location in Florida, getting ready for its very first trip into space. As the main astronaut and pilot for the mission, Shubhanshu will be joined by former NASA astronaut and mission leader Peggy Whitson, as well as Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu.
Shubhanshu Shukla will take a soft toy to space with him
The Falcon-9 rocket will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts—and a special soft toy named Joy. You might wonder why a soft toy is making this journey into space.
Joy isn’t just any regular plush toy; it serves an important role as a special indicator for the Axiom-4 mission. There's a tradition among astronauts to bring along a lightweight object that can float in the air once they leave Earth’s gravity.
When Joy begins to float, it will signal that the spacecraft has entered a state of zero gravity, which means they’re officially in space. This tradition dates back to 1961, when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin first took a soft toy with him. Since then, both Russian and American astronauts have continued the practice of bringing soft toys along on their missions.
Meanwhile, the Axiom-4 mission plans to carry out a total of 60 experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) with the help of this four-member crew. Among these, seven experiments are organised by ISRO (the Indian Space Research Organisation), and Shukla will participate in five experiments for NASA’s human research program.
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