Axiom-4 mission carrying India's Shubhanshu Shukla now eyes June 19 lift-off
New Delhi (PTI): The much-delayed Axiom-4 commercial mission to the International Space Station, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others, is now targeting a launch on June 19, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Saturday.
The Axiom Space mission was to blast-off from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 11, but had to be delayed first due to a fuel leak in SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket and then due to a leak in the Russian section of the International Space Station (ISS).
"During a follow-on coordination meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved," the ISRO said in a statement.
"Separately, Axiom Space informed that they are working closely with NASA to assess the pressure anomaly in the Zvezda Service Module on board the International Space Station," it said.
"Axiom Space is now targeting June 19, 2025, for the launch of the Ax-04 mission," ISRO said.
The astronauts were originally scheduled for lift-off on May 29, which was put off to June 8, June 10 and June 11, when SpaceX, the providers of the launch rocket and the space capsule, detected a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon-9 rocket.
Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, Peggy Whitson, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as the pilot.
The two mission specialists are European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
The 14-day mission will "realise the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary.
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Will take legal course if film is stopped: Vivek Agnihotri on release of 'The Bengal Files' in WB
Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI): Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri on Monday said he would go the legal route if the release of his film "The Bengal Files" is stalled in West Bengal.
The trailer launch of the film in Kolkata was disrupted on Saturday. Agnihotri claimed the event was first cancelled by a multiplex and then moved to a hotel where power supply was disrupted and police turned up asking if permission had been taken.
"We will go by the Constitution. We will go legally. If they stop us, we will take the legal course. What can we do? We are common citizens like you... We will pray that sanity prevails and the state government does not do it (stop the release)," the filmmaker said at a press conference here while hitting out at the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in West Bengal.
"The Bengal Files", which is slated for release on September 5, revolves around the Calcutta riots of August 16, 1946, which were triggered after the All-India Muslim League called for 'Direct Action Day' to demand a separate homeland.
"...This is an Indian film. I am telling you the truth," Agnihotri said.
Known for films such as "The Kashmir Files" and "The Tashkent Files", Agnihotri also addressed the many controversies surrounding his latest release, including an FIR by Gopal Chandra Mukherjee's grandson Santanu Mukherjee.
Gopal Mukherjee is said to have played a pivotal role in the resistance against the Muslim mob violence in 1946. Santanu claims Agnihotri's film refers to his grandfather as a butcher.
Agnihotri said Gopal Mukherjee in his film is an inspired character and not central to the plot.
"I will not go into his history. Watch Santanu's interview. I can give you all the links. There is an interview of Gopal Mukherjee on BBC. In that interview, what he has said, we have only shown that much. I have nothing to do with Gopal Mukherjee's life, politics. He was a hero and I have shown him as a hero," he said.
"I respect Gopal Mukherjee a lot. His grandsons work with TMC. There is a compulsion there... They have done it legally. We are giving a legal answer to that," he said.
Agnihotri claimed the film is his attempt to reveal hidden truths. He said he aims at showing "the untold stories of India".
"Our purpose is very clear. I make films on Hindu civilization. That is why I make films on Hindu history. I do not consider myself capable of making films on Islamic history or Christian history," he said, adding that filmmakers like Mani Ratnam and Vishal Bhardwaj have already made movies on the Islamic history of Kashmir through "Roja" and "Haider".
Agnihotri said the censor board passed "The Bengal Files" without any cuts though it went through the examining committee and then the revising committee.
"This film was made with a lot of responsibility and sincerity. No one can object to this. Bengalis will be proud of this film."
"The Bengal Files" stars Mithun Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Darshan Kumar.
