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The Axiom-4 mission is part of a planned private spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) organised by Axiom Space, a private space company, in partnership with SpaceX and NASA.
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The human-manned mission has crew members from four nations: the US, India, Poland and Hungary.
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Axiom-4 (Ax-4) is the first government-sponsored flight for India, Poland and Hungary in more than 40 years.
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Not only is it India, Poland and Hungary’s second human spaceflight mission in history, but it is also their first mission together.
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Joining the mission are Peggy Whitson from the US (commander), India’s Shubhanshu Shukla (pilot), Sławosz Uznański from Poland and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu (both mission specialists).
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With the completion of the mission, Shubhanshu Shukla will become India’s second astronaut to go to space after Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
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Poland’s Sławosz Uznański and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu will also be the second astronauts from their respective countries to go to space.
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This will also be Peggy Whitson’s second commercial human spaceflight as a commander and will add to her record for the longest cumulative time in space by an American astronaut.
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Upon completion, the Ax-4 mission will set a record for the most research activities conducted during an Axiom space mission, as it includes 61 research studies from 31 countries.
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Originally, the mission was set to launch on May 29. However, it has been delayed multiple times since then. Finally, NASA announced June 25 as the final launch date.
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