Backup Axiom pilot praises Shubhanshu Shukla: He’s got that determination

India Today

Indian Air Force pilot and Axiom Mission-4 backup astronaut Prashanth Nair praised Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla for his unwavering determination and razor-sharp focus.    Both Nair and Shukla are part of the elite team chosen for India’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan. Speaking to the media ahead of the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, Nair reflected on their shared journey and the rigorous training that brought them to this moment.

Transcript

00:00All right, we're going straight now across to these pictures of the much-awaited launch of Axiom 4 mission,

00:07which is scheduled for a minute past noon.

00:10We have these pictures also coming in.

00:12At this point in time, it was recorded earlier, as is now being said.

00:17Let's take a listen.

00:19Seeing them walk out, seeing the smiles on their faces right now is just a defining characteristic of this crew.

00:25They have really bonded over these last 10 months

00:28and really taken every challenge in stride.

00:31And you can just see it in their faces today.

00:33All of that work is paying off.

00:35Yeah, absolutely.

00:36Here we've got video that was recorded earlier of us putting those safety harnesses onto our crew.

00:41You can think of them kind of like a seat belt, but they're a little bit more high-tech than that.

00:44And then after that, we do attach umbilicals to the capsule,

00:48which provide both breathing air and comms to Dragon.

00:51Then we step into suit leak checks and comms checks, which were completed earlier today,

00:55before rotating the seats into a reclined position for launch.

00:58We do that to make sure that the G-forces are going right through the chests of our astronauts

01:02to keep them as comfortable as possible on their roller coaster ride to space.

01:06Then our closeout team closes and seals the hatch and performs a leak check,

01:10which John gave us an update on a little bit earlier.

01:13The closeout team has since departed the pad and final weather checks are coming up at this point,

01:18which is needed before that final go or no-go for launch is given.

01:24The crew, of course, now with that great shot of them onboard your screen,

01:27is waiting to get the green light to stow the crew arm for launch and arm the launch escape system.

01:32Once our launch director gives that go-ahead,

01:34we should get a great view of the access arm moving away from the spacecraft.

01:38That's also going to be one of our last major visual milestones that we'll see before liftoff,

01:43that takes about two minutes to complete.

01:46From there, we'll hear the call-out that Falcon 9 propellant loading is ready to begin,

01:51and we will be in that final countdown for launch.

01:57Great images here on your screen.

01:58Of course, we have Dragon on the left-hand side and live views from inside of our capsule

02:03with all of those events that led up to getting our four AX-4 crew members seated and ready for liftoff.

02:08Dragon SpaceX, good news.

02:11Our second side hatch leak check was successful.

02:15And great news there from Mission Control.

02:18We are happy to hear that.

02:20Great.

02:21Being carried.

02:25So as John mentioned earlier, we did do a second leak check today to make sure that that side hatch was closed properly.

02:31And with that confirmation from Mission Control and acknowledgement by the crew,

02:34we are moving forward with today's launch.

02:36Obviously, Peggy has been through this once before successfully, and it is the first time for the other three crew members.

02:48But just seeing each of them all together as a team there inside Dragon is a sight that's just rewarding to see.

02:55We've shared a bit about our crew members on this AX-4 mission, but to properly introduce them and the space agencies they represent,

03:02we're going to send you now out to Axiom Space's Sonia Gavankar-McKay, who's joining us from the press site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

03:10Sonia, you're only three miles from the launch pad.

03:12How is the energy out there?

03:17The energy is amazing.

03:18The weather is fantastic.

03:20It's a little chilly in this room, but we're just hot for this mission, so we're excited.

03:25All right.

03:26I'm now going straight across to Shibu Kumar Tripathi, Editor of Science India today.

03:30Thank you so much, Shibu, for joining us this morning.

03:32This morning, I want to ask you, you know, what next?

03:35In about, you know, less than about an hour and a half or so when we see the launch take place.

03:42But what is the process up until then?

03:45These are details and live pictures as being described coming in that NASA is telling us about.

03:51What next do we see in the next few, you know, in the next one hour or so?

03:56So, at the moment, Subhanshu Shukla has boarded the Dragon spacecraft with the AX-4 crew.

04:04He's the mission pilot for the AX-4 mission.

04:06In the next one hour, we'll see a lot of checks being done by SpaceX before the launch is given a go.

04:12On the livestream, we did hear that there was a leak in one of the hatch that was discovered.

04:17However, that has been cleared.

04:19So, no leaks have been discovered so far and the launch is a go for the moment.

04:24In the next one hour, the propellant, the fuel that will power the Falcon 9 rocket will be loaded into Falcon 9.

04:31And at about 12.01 PM, we expect the liftoff to happen.

04:35Now, once the liftoff happens, this is going to be a much more exciting mission

04:39because the Falcon 9 is a reusable rocket.

04:42So, we'll see the rocket delivering the Dragon spacecraft into space and then making a landing back to Earth.

04:49So, it's going to be very interesting and then Subhanshu Shukla and the entire AX-4 crew has a 28-hour long journey in front of them.

04:56They'll be rendezvousing with the International Space Station about 400 kilometers Earth on Thursday at around 4.30 PM.

05:03So, overall, it's going to be a very, very exciting mission today and then on to tomorrow.

05:08And the highlight of this is that we have Istro's astronaut, you know, the man of the moment really for us, Subhanshu Shukla,

05:15who is, in fact, ready for his trystress destiny, isn't it, in a sense?

05:22Shibu.

05:24For sure, this is going to be a historic mission for India, for Subhanshu Shukla and especially for Lucknow from where he comes.

05:34The entire school, the city Montesquieu school from where he has studied is ready to watch the entire mission.

05:40His parents are excited. His wife and four-year-old son are in Florida. They bid him a farewell before the launch.

05:47For the next 14 days, he'll be in space and it's going to be a lot exciting because he'll be conducting over seven experiments for Istro.

05:54In all, the AX-4 mission is carrying over 60 scientific studies during this expedition.

05:59So, overall, it's going to be very, very exciting for India and for the world.

06:03You know, talk to us in detail, you know, about these experiments that you mentioned that would be carried out over a period of time.

06:10It has been an amazing journey. These are moments that really...

06:14So, once Srivanshu Shukla docks the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station,

06:20Istro has designed seven specific experiments that will be led by him.

06:24These experiments have come from all across Indian academia, from Indian experts and scientists.

06:29They will eventually feed into the Gaganyan mission.

06:31Now, Gaganyan is India's own space mission, which is expected to launch in 2027.

06:37So, all the learnings that Srivanshu Shukla goes through during this mission will eventually feed into the Gaganyan mission and its development.

06:44Some of these experiments include studying about tardigrades.

06:48Now, these are microorganisms that survive in extreme weather environments.

06:51That's right. You know, Shibu, be with us.

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