Safety, mission integrity top priority, says ISRO amid Axiom-4 delay
New Delhi (PTI): ISRO on Friday said safety and mission integrity were its top priority as NASA and Axiom Space said they were working to address an issue related to a leak at the International Space Station.
India's Shubhanshu Shukla along with three other astronauts are scheduled to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 commercial mission that has now been put on indefinite delay, as space agencies address various issues that have cropped up ahead of the launch.
"Safety and mission integrity remain our top priorities," ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said in a post on X.
He said ISRO is working closely with Axiom Space, NASA and SpaceX, as they responsibly address the ISS Zvezda module observation causing the delay.
India's return to spaceflight as part of the Axiom-4 private mission has run into further delay as NASA announced on Thursday that it was examining a leak onboard the ISS' Russian module.
"NASA and Axiom Space are postponing the launch of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station," a NASA statement 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 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as 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.
"Setbacks and delays are a normal part of spaceflight. Our Ax-4 crew remains upbeat and looking forward to a safe and successful flight to the Space Station," Whitson said in a post on X.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Emotional tributes paid to cops killed in blast at gunpowder dump of Maoists in Chhattisgarh
Narayanpur (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): Emotional scenes were witnessed on Sunday as wreaths were laid on the mortal remains of three of the four police personnel killed in an explosion in a gunpowder dump of Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district.
The grieving family members were inconsolable, while security personnel tried to comfort them.
Amid chants of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Vande Mataram," public representatives, along with senior police and administrative officials, paid tributes to the deceased personnel.
The wreath-laying ceremony to pay homage to Inspector Sukhram Vatti (40), constables Krishna Komra (35) and Sanjay Gadhpale (29), killed in the explosion on Saturday, was held at the Police Lines in Narayanpur district, neighbouring Kanker.
The mortal remains of constable Parmanand Komra (29), who succumbed to injuries during treatment in Raipur, will be shifted to Kanker, where a separate wreath-laying ceremony will be held, police said.
Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj Pattilingam, after paying homage, told reporters that the four police personnel made the supreme sacrifice while protecting the region.
"I pay my homage to them," he added.
The four personnel were killed while they were attempting to dispose of a gunpowder dump hidden earlier by Maoists in a forest near Aadnar village under Chhotebethiya police station limits in Kanker district, according to police.
It was the first explosion linked to Naxalites in the state since it was declared free from armed Maoists on March 31, and also the first instance this year in which security personnel engaged in anti-Naxal operations lost their lives.
District Reserve Guard (DRG) official Vatti, who was leading the team, hailed from Bijapur district. Constable Krishna Komra of the district force and constables Gadhpale and Parmanand Komra of the Bastar Fighters were residents of different villages in Kanker.
