Within eight minutes of launching the Axiom-4 mission, which carried Indian Air Force (IAF) Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crew members to the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket returned safely to Earth on Tuesday.
The Axiom-4 mission is a private astronaut mission to the ISS and will "realise the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary. The mission aims to carry out around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries, including India, the US, Saudi Arabia, and nations across Europe.
The mission's launch finally took place on Wednesday after being delayed six times. It was all set for a seventh delay after a software glitch blocked the uploading of the weather data. But the crisis was averted after the issue was resolved.
Falcon 9 returns to base | Watch
The Dragon Capsule mounted on SpaceX's famous Falcon 9 rocket roared as it lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The same spot from where Neil Armstrong took off for the moon on Apollo 11 in 1969.
All About Falcon 9 rocket
{{/usCountry}}The Dragon Capsule mounted on SpaceX's famous Falcon 9 rocket roared as it lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The same spot from where Neil Armstrong took off for the moon on Apollo 11 in 1969.
All About Falcon 9 rocket
{{/usCountry}}The Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by Elon Musk's SpaceX. It is the world's first orbital-class reusable rocket.
Falcon 9's first stage incorporates nine Merlin engines and aluminium-lithium alloy tanks containing liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellant. At sea level, Falcon 9 generates more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
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The rocket's interstage is a composite structure that connects the first and second stages, housing the pneumatic pushers that allow the two stages to separate during flight.
Falcon 9 is also equipped with four hypersonic grid fins positioned at the base of the interstage.
The Falcon 9 rocket's second stage is powered by a single Merlin Vacuum Engine, delivering the payload to the desired orbit. However, the second stage engine ignites only a few seconds after stage separation, and can be restarted multiple times to place multiple payloads into different orbits.
The Falcon 9's payload is made of a carbon composite material, and the fairing protects satellites on their way to orbit.