CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary landed on the International Space Station on Thursday, marking the first visit from these countries in over 40 years, thanks to a private SpaceX flight.
These four astronauts will conduct numerous experiments during their two-week stay at the orbiting facility. Their journey began on Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The mission is led by Peggy Whitson, America’s most seasoned astronaut. She represents Axiom Space, the Houston-based company that organized this chartered expedition.
Besides Whitson, the crew includes India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, a pilot in the Indian Air Force; Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer; and Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a radiation expert and one of the European Space Agency’s project astronauts on temporary flight duty.
No one has ever visited the International Space Station from those countries before. In fact, the last time anyone rocketed into orbit from those countries was in the late 1970s and 1980s, traveling with the Soviets.
“Welcome aboard the International Space Station,” NASA’s Mission Control radioed from Houston minutes after the linkup high above the North Atlantic. “It’s an honor to have you join our outpost of international cooperation and exploration.”
It’s the fourth Axiom-sponsored flight to the space station since 2022. The company is one of several that are developing their own space stations due to launch in the coming years. NASA plans to abandon the International Space Station in 2030 after more than three decades of operation, and is encouraging private ventures to replace it.
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