An historic mission began early on Wednesday (25 June) as astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) for their countries’ first-ever visit. They were joined by NASA veteran Peggy Whitson.
The crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at approximately 2:30 a.m. EDT, embarking on a mission organized by Texas-based startup Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX.
The four astronauts - Peggy Whitson of the U.S., Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary - were carried aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on top of a Falcon 9 rocket.
This launch marked the first Crew Dragon flight since Elon Musk briefly considered retiring the spacecraft amid political tensions earlier this month.
After a roughly 28-hour flight, the capsule is expected to dock with the ISS, orbiting 402 kilometres (250 miles) above Earth.
Onboard, the crew will spend 14 days conducting microgravity research alongside the station’s current seven occupants - three Americans, one Japanese, and three Russian cosmonauts.
For India, Poland, and Hungary, this mission represents a major milestone: their first human spaceflight missions to the ISS in more than 40 years. The flight also acts as a stepping stone for India’s Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft, planned for launch in 2027.
Leading the crew is Peggy Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut and the first woman to command two ISS expeditions. With 675 days in space - the U.S. record - Whitson now serves as Axiom’s director of human spaceflight.
The mission was delayed by one day due to the weather but successfully launched early Wednesday, marking the fourth private astronaut flight arranged by Axiom since 2022 as the company expands its commercial space endeavours.
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Azerbaijani and Armenian civil society representatives have convened for a new round of dialogue under the ‘Peace Bridge’ initiative, as both sides seek to sustain engagement ahead of key political developments in the region.
Hungarians vote in elections on Sunday that could see the end of hard right nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s more than 15 year rule. Opinion polls show Orbán’s Fidesz party trailing 45-year-old Péter Magyar’s centre-right opposition Tisza party.
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Israel has reprimanded Spain’s most senior diplomat in Tel Aviv after a giant effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blown up in a Spanish town.
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NASA’s Artemis II crew has returned safely to Earth after completing a landmark journey around the Moon, marking the first crewed lunar mission in more than half a century.
The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission are preparing to return to Earth after completing a groundbreaking journey around the Moon, with a Pacific Ocean splashdown expected off the coast of San Diego at around 01:00 BST (12:00 GMT).
Astronauts aboard Artemis II have described the emotional toll of their historic journey as they prepare for a high-risk “fireball” re-entry. The crew is set to splash down off California on Friday (10 April) after travelling farther than any humans in history.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to astronauts on the Artemis II mission on Wednesday, celebrating the first Canadian to fly around the moon and marking a lighter moment in U.S.-Canadian relations that have been strained under U.S. President Donald Trump.
The four astronauts aboard Artemis II briefly lost contact with Earth while flying behind the Moon, then regained it during a dramatic lunar far-side flyby.
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