Indian-American scientist Amit Kshatriya's journey from watching rocket launches in Houston to becoming NASA's Associate Administrator is a testament to his dedication and expertise in space exploration.
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will be the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station (ISS), flying aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of a joint effort between NASA and ISRO. Shukla, a group captain in the Indian Air Force, will serve as the pilot for the Axiom Mission 4, scheduled for launch no earlier than spring 2025. The mission will also carry the first astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay aboard the ISS.
Mark Kelly, the astronaut husband of United States Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was gravely wounded in the Tucson shooting rampage, will command the flight of space shuttle Endeavour in April. His participation in the 'next-to-the last' space shuttle mission in April had been in doubt since his wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head outside a Tucson supermarket on January 8 in a gun attack that left six other people dead.
The NASA contract engineer had received a poor job review and feared that he could be fired.
The space agency officials said that its operations were not interrupted by the incident. NASA employees watched the drama on television as they were locked down.
On Sunday morning Eastern US time, four astronauts will zoom into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Commanding the spaceflight is Raja Chari, a United States Air Force colonel.
Raja Chari is in training to go to space in 2019. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel presents the story of his journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to NASA. A Rediff.com Exclusive!
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