NASA puts off Sunday's launch of Axiom-4 mission to International Space Station
New Delhi (PTI): NASA has put off Sunday's launch of the Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station, saying it required additional time to evaluate operations on the orbital lab after the recent repairs in its Russian section.
The Axiom-4 mission was targeting a June 22 launch after being put off multiple times due to a leak in the boosters of SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket, inclement weather in the ascent trajectory and leaks in the aft-most section of Zvezda service module.
The space agency needs additional time to continue evaluating the International Space Station operations after recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory's Zvezda service module, it said.
Because of the space station's interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure the station is ready for additional crew members, and the agency is taking the time necessary to review data, the Axiom Space statement said.
Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, Peggy Whitson, will command the commercial mission, while 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.
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.
At a pre-launch press conference on June 10, SpaceX Vice President William Gerstenmaier said engineers had detected a liquid oxygen (LOX) leak on the Falcon-9 booster during the re-entry phase of its previous mission that was not fully repaired during refurbishment.
At the same press interaction, Dana Weigel, Manager of NASA's International Space Station Program, had said that launch opportunities were available till June 30.
In case SpaceX and Axiom Space are unable to launch in the month of June, there are opportunities from mid-July, she added.
The Axiom-4 crew has been in mandatory pre-launch quarantine since May 26.
The pre-launch quarantine is necessary to closely monitor the astronauts' health, avoid exposure to any last-minute illness and ensure that the astronauts flying to the space station don't carry any infection to the closed environment of the orbiting lab.
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.
Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani to be India's next Chief of Defence Staff
New Delhi (PTI): Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani will be India's new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and his key task is set to be to implement the ambitious theaterisation plan that seeks to ensure tri-services synergy.
He will succeed Gen Anil Chauhan whose tenure will come to an end on May 30.
Gen Chauhan, a former Eastern Army Commander, took charge as the country's senior-most military commander in September 2022, over nine months after the first CDS, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.
The government has appointed Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani (Retd) as the Chief of Defence Staff, who will also function as the secretary of the Department of Military Affairs, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Lt Gen Subramani is currently serving as the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat.
Prior to that, he was the Vice Chief of the Army Staff from July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025, and was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Command from March 2023 till June 2024.
As Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen Subramani's primary task will be to implement the theaterisation model to bring in tri-services synergy by rolling out integrated military commands.
The officer is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He was commissioned into the eighth battalion of the Garhwal Rifles on December 14, 1985.
Lt Gen Subramani is an alumnus of Joint Services Command Staff College, Bracknell (UK), and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He holds a Master of Arts degree from King's College London and an MPhil in defence studies from Madras University.
In his illustrious career spanning over 40 years, Lt Gen Subramani has served across a wide spectrum of conflict and terrain profiles and tenanted a host of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments.
He commanded the 16 Garhwal Rifles in Counter-Insurgency operations in Assam as part of Operation Rhino, the 168 Infantry Brigade in Jammu and Kashmir, and the 17 Mountain Division in the Central Sector, all during a challenging operational environment.
He also has the distinction of commanding two Corps, including the Indian Army's premier strike Corps on the Western Front.
