'230 sunrises, 100 lakh km travelled': Shubhanshu Shukla’s two-week odyssey in space

Floating 250 miles above Earth, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and his Axiom-4 crewmates have greeted 230 sunrises aboard the International Space Station, covering nearly 100 lakh kilometers in just two weeks — a cosmic journey marked by scientific breakthroughs and fleeting moments of leisure.

The Axiom-4 crew — Shukla, veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Tibor Kapu — recently spent their final off-duty day on the ISS, awaiting NASA’s announcement of their return date to Earth.

The team has completed close to 230 orbits around the planet, traveling more than six million miles (96.5 lakh kilometers), Axiom Space said in a statement.

“From about 250 miles above the Earth, the crew spent their downtime capturing images and video, taking in the view of our home planet below, and reconnecting with loved ones,” the statement said.

These moments, Axiom Space noted, offered a rare pause in an otherwise demanding schedule.

During their mission, the Ax-4 crew has carried out over 60 experiments spanning biomedical science, advanced materials, neuroscience, agriculture and space technology — marking the most research conducted on any Axiom Space private astronaut mission to date.

Shukla turned farmer onboard the ISS, growing moong and methi seeds, PTI reported. He also took photographs of the seeds sprouting in petri dishes and while keeping them in a storage freezer.

These studies hold promise for transforming human space exploration and improving life on Earth, with potential advances in areas like diabetes management, innovative cancer therapies, and better monitoring of human health and performance.

As the astronauts resume their scientific duties, they continue to demonstrate how commercial missions can propel microgravity research and exploration forward.

“Every test tube, data point, and observation brings us one step closer to a global community living and working in low-Earth orbit and, eventually, beyond,” Axiom Space said.

The Axiom-4 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 25. After a 28-hour journey, the Dragon spacecraft docked at the space station the following day.