UPDATED: Jun 26, 2025 14:36 IST In Short WATCH AX-4 MISSION DOCKING LIVE HERE Launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:01 p.m. IST on Wednesday, the Ax-4 crew has spent over 28 hours in orbit, traveling at speeds exceeding 17,000 kilometers per hour and maintaining an altitude of 418 kilometers above Earth. The four-member team—Commander Peggy Whitson (USA), Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla (India), and Mission Specialists Sawosz Uznaski-Winiewski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary)—has been preparing for the crucial docking maneuver, which marks the first time astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary have conducted a mission to the ISS together. Upon successful docking, Shukla will become the first Indian to visit NASA’s orbiting laboratory and only the second Indian to travel to space, following Rakesh Sharma’s historic 1984 mission. The Ax-4 mission is set for a 14-day stay aboard the ISS, during which the crew will conduct over 60 scientific experiments spanning cancer research, 3D printing, DNA repair, and technology demonstrations, representing collaborative efforts from 31 nations. advertisement This mission not only marks a return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary after more than four decades but also underscores the growing role of commercial partnerships and international collaboration in advancing space research and exploration. The world now awaits the soft capture, which will usher in a new era of global scientific cooperation in low-Earth orbit. - Ends