The International Space Station is really starting to show its age. It's a bit leaky these days, particularly on the Russian side. The Zvezda module had had a worsening air leak since 2019. It's bad enough that the US think it could lead to a catastrophic failure, which, maybe... It is a significant leak. Roscosmos certainly doesn't think it's at that point yet, but whether out of an abundance of caution or perhaps to score some political points NASA and Axiom Space recently delayed the launch of Axiom Mission 4 as a result.

Now you've probably heard of NASA but let me catch you up quickly on Axiom Space. They are a privately funded 'space infrastructure developer' and provider of human spaceflight services. As early as 2027 they are planning on launching their first space station module and want to have their own space station, Axiom Station, orbiting planet Earth just a few years later. We'll see.

In the meantime, for around $60 million they’ll fly you to the ISS on a SpaceX Crew Dragon. Axiom Mission 4 is a two-week mission commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. Also on board is the second Indian to travel to space, and the first since 1984, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. Shukla has been a fighter pilot since 2006 and clocked up something like 2,000 flying hours. Interestingly (for me, at least) in the early days of my flying career I worked with an ex-Indian Air Force pilot who had also been on the short-list to be an Indian astronaut in his younger days. But for some sliding doors moments he could have been India’s first astronaut 41 years ago. Not that he hadn’t had a fascinating career anyway. Anyway, I digress.

India is sending Shukla to get some space experience because they have their first-ever human spaceflight scheduled for 2027, and I guess it's preferable to have someone who might know what they are doing. Their space program is nothing if not ambitious, because they also have near-term plans for launching their own space station and, of course, having an Indian astronaut set foot on the Moon. Anyway, Whitson, Shukla, and the two other crew members will be busy during Axiom Mission 4, as they have around 60 experiments to get through. Including on tardigrades. If you don't know, water bears (as they are sometimes called) are objectively the most awesome microscopic animals. Those things will survive just about anything. You can starve them, dehydrate them, deprive them of oxygen, freeze them, and they just keep going. They have even lived through impacts at speeds in excess of 3,000 kph, and we've seen them survive exposure to space. On this mission, researchers are planning on counting the number of tardigrade eggs laid and hatched. And hopefully work out what makes them so resilient.

Ok, so now for the really important news. The crew chose a baby swan plushie as their zero-g indicator and have named it Joy. Apparently, Joy embodies the shared pursuit of different cultures to soar high above our home planet. Was the $2 shop out of eagle plushies that day? Anyway, here's hoping for a successful mission.

And welcome back to human spaceflight, India.