With their stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) extended by three days, till July 14, the Axiom-4 crew plans to continue performing scientific experiments.
On Thursday, NASA confirmed that they were awaiting suitable weather conditions, and the undocking of the Axiom-4 Dragon will be no earlier than July 14 (4.30 pm IST Monday).
In the past 16 days since reaching the ISS, the four-member crew—including mission commander Peggy Whitson, India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu—has performed over 60 experiments cutting across biomedical science, advanced materials, neuroscience, agriculture and space technology.
Axiom Space stated on Thursday that the Ax-4 mission has performed the maximum scientific experiments compared to its previous missions. These investigations could transform the future of human space exploration and life on Earth, with potential breakthroughs in areas such as diabetes management, innovative cancer treatments, and enhanced monitoring of human health and performance, it added.
One of the key experiments Shukla has conducted involves the study of space microalgae to understand their potential to produce food, oxygen and biofuels. Their resilience and versatility could be useful in supporting human life on long-duration missions to space. Performing centrifugation of cyanobacteria, Shukla compared the two strains of these photosynthetic microorganisms, aiming to understand how microgravity affects their growth, cellular behaviour and biochemical activity.
He performed microscopic observations and collected cellular samples for the myogenesis study. Leads from this work could strategise and plan ways to protect astronaut health during extended missions, say to the Moon or Mars in future. Besides, the insights from this experiment could come in handy to improve existing treatments offered for muscle-wasting conditions on Earth, including those linked to ageing and immobility.
Another key task was to closely observe and record the effect of microgravity on body muscles, for which Shukla conducted a detailed investigation of muscle atrophy using the Life Sciences Glovebox facility onboard the ISS.
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To get a better understanding of the process of seed germination and early plant development in space, Shukla irrigated crop seeds as part of the Sprouts project. Later, he subjected the sprouts to -80°C temperatures and attempted the study of impact of microgravity. He will cultivate the seeds upon his return to Earth, and the multiple seed generations will be examined for any changes in their genetics, microbial ecosystems and nutritional profiles. The goal is to identify plants with desirable traits for genetic analysis for sustainable farming in space.
During their stay at the ISS, the astronauts have been jointly gathering data for various scientific knowledge gathering exercises. These included measuring radiation exposure using the Rad Nano Dosimeter useful for assessing the safety of the astronauts, particularly those involved in long missions aboard the ISS; tests performed to improve the understanding of mental and heart health while in space; and the human body’s adaptability capabilities to the space environment and heat transfer in microgravity through clothing.
In addition, a neuromuscular electrical stimulation session was conducted to explore the potential interventions to counter muscle loss or atrophy under microgravity conditions.
The Axiom-4 was launched on June 25 for a period of 14 days.
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