Indian cricket team young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was named vice-captain of East Zone for the 2026 Duleep Trophy. Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan was appointed captain with the squad comprising of seasoned veterans like Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shahbaz Ahmed. Sooryavanshi made his senior team debut during the series against England and although he did not have a good outing, he made up for it in the series against Zimbabwe where he slammed two half-centuries. India went on to win all three matches in the series. Kishan enters the tournament after a strong performance in India's recent white-ball series against Zimbabwe. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batter delivered several aggressive innings at the top of the order, giving India quick starts. His recent form and leadership experience made him the top choice to lead the East Zone side. All eyes will be on 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is rising quickly in Indian cricket after a breakt...
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, set to become the second Indian to go to space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's journey on board the Soyuz T-11 in April 1984, will take on the role of pilot on the Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4.
The Ax-4 will go to the International Space Station (ISS) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Kennedy Space Centre in Florida no earlier than spring 2025, NASA told reporters on Thursday.
Group Captain Shukla, who is serving in the Indian Air Force (IAF), has also been chosen as an astronaut for India's Gaganyaan Mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was ISRO that sent him to NASA for the Ax-4 mission to the ISS.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the private Ax-4 mission, while Group Captain Shukla will serve as pilot, the American space agency told reporters.
"I am really excited to go into microgravity and experience space flight on my own. The tempo for the mission has been building up each month. I think we are at a stage wherein all the pieces are kind of coming together. I'm extremely excited to see how this unfolds in the coming months and for the actual space flight as well," Group Captain Shukla said in response to a question by NDTV.
The Axiom 4 Mission team speaks to NDTV Science Editor Pallava Bagla
"We have been training for the past four-five months. We now understand the entire CONOPS, the concept of operations, and going forward from here it would mostly be repetition of the things that we have done. So we are ready and confident in our abilities to execute this mission successfully," Group Captain Shukla added.
On whether he would perform yoga as was done by Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma in space, Group Captain Shukla said, "Yes, now that you have said so, I would probably demonstrate a few poses of yoga while we are up on the station."
"But a more important aspect is that we need to practice while we are on the ground so that we have a healthy body which can house a healthy mind and allow us to execute this mission in our full spirits, truly," Group Captain Shukla said.
He added in Hindi, "I am very excited about this mission, and I think the kind of training we have done so far makes me confident in my abilities. We will be able to execute this mission very well. Thank you."
The Axiom 4 Mission team
Ms Whitson praised her team which has a diverse composition.
"These guys are very intelligent, so they absolutely listen to me," she said. "It is an interesting challenge to bring a diverse group from different countries together. I had that opportunity on the previous Axiom mission. And even on the NASA missions, we work as a very international team. But that is what I love to do. I love to bring people together and to build a team. And so that is kind of my main goal of this mission is to build that elite team. And I think I have got it here."
The first private astronaut mission to the ISS, Axiom Mission 1, lifted off in April 2022 for a 17-day mission aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The second private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 2, also was commanded by Ms Whitson and launched in May 2023 with four private astronauts who spent eight days in orbit.
The most recent private astronaut mission, Axiom Mission 3, launched in January 2024; the crew spent 18 days docked to the ISS.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/P3IYBAD
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