00:00All right, we're going straight now across to these pictures of the much-awaited launch of Axiom 4 mission,
00:07which is scheduled for a minute past noon.
00:10We have these pictures also coming in.
00:12At this point in time, it was recorded earlier, as is now being said.
00:17Let's take a listen.
00:19Seeing them walk out, seeing the smiles on their faces right now is just a defining characteristic of this crew.
00:25They have really bonded over these last 10 months
00:28and really taken every challenge in stride.
00:31And you can just see it in their faces today.
00:33All of that work is paying off.
00:35Yeah, absolutely.
00:36Here we've got video that was recorded earlier of us putting those safety harnesses onto our crew.
00:41You can think of them kind of like a seat belt, but they're a little bit more high-tech than that.
00:44And then after that, we do attach umbilicals to the capsule,
00:48which provide both breathing air and comms to Dragon.
00:51Then we step into suit leak checks and comms checks, which were completed earlier today,
00:55before rotating the seats into a reclined position for launch.
00:58We do that to make sure that the G-forces are going right through the chests of our astronauts
01:02to keep them as comfortable as possible on their roller coaster ride to space.
01:06Then our closeout team closes and seals the hatch and performs a leak check,
01:10which John gave us an update on a little bit earlier.
01:13The closeout team has since departed the pad and final weather checks are coming up at this point,
01:18which is needed before that final go or no-go for launch is given.
01:24The crew, of course, now with that great shot of them onboard your screen,
01:27is waiting to get the green light to stow the crew arm for launch and arm the launch escape system.
01:32Once our launch director gives that go-ahead,
01:34we should get a great view of the access arm moving away from the spacecraft.
01:38That's also going to be one of our last major visual milestones that we'll see before liftoff,
01:43that takes about two minutes to complete.
01:46From there, we'll hear the call-out that Falcon 9 propellant loading is ready to begin,
01:51and we will be in that final countdown for launch.
01:57Great images here on your screen.
01:58Of course, we have Dragon on the left-hand side and live views from inside of our capsule
02:03with all of those events that led up to getting our four AX-4 crew members seated and ready for liftoff.
02:08Dragon SpaceX, good news.
02:11Our second side hatch leak check was successful.
02:15And great news there from Mission Control.
02:18We are happy to hear that.
02:20Great.
02:21Being carried.
02:25So as John mentioned earlier, we did do a second leak check today to make sure that that side hatch was closed properly.
02:31And with that confirmation from Mission Control and acknowledgement by the crew,
02:34we are moving forward with today's launch.
02:36Obviously, Peggy has been through this once before successfully, and it is the first time for the other three crew members.
02:48But just seeing each of them all together as a team there inside Dragon is a sight that's just rewarding to see.
02:55We've shared a bit about our crew members on this AX-4 mission, but to properly introduce them and the space agencies they represent,
03:02we're going to send you now out to Axiom Space's Sonia Gavankar-McKay, who's joining us from the press site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
03:10Sonia, you're only three miles from the launch pad.
03:12How is the energy out there?
03:17The energy is amazing.
03:18The weather is fantastic.
03:20It's a little chilly in this room, but we're just hot for this mission, so we're excited.
03:25All right.
03:26I'm now going straight across to Shibu Kumar Tripathi, Editor of Science India today.
03:30Thank you so much, Shibu, for joining us this morning.
03:32This morning, I want to ask you, you know, what next?
03:35In about, you know, less than about an hour and a half or so when we see the launch take place.
03:42But what is the process up until then?
03:45These are details and live pictures as being described coming in that NASA is telling us about.
03:51What next do we see in the next few, you know, in the next one hour or so?
03:56So, at the moment, Subhanshu Shukla has boarded the Dragon spacecraft with the AX-4 crew.
04:04He's the mission pilot for the AX-4 mission.
04:06In the next one hour, we'll see a lot of checks being done by SpaceX before the launch is given a go.
04:12On the livestream, we did hear that there was a leak in one of the hatch that was discovered.
04:17However, that has been cleared.
04:19So, no leaks have been discovered so far and the launch is a go for the moment.
04:24In the next one hour, the propellant, the fuel that will power the Falcon 9 rocket will be loaded into Falcon 9.
04:31And at about 12.01 PM, we expect the liftoff to happen.
04:35Now, once the liftoff happens, this is going to be a much more exciting mission
04:39because the Falcon 9 is a reusable rocket.
04:42So, we'll see the rocket delivering the Dragon spacecraft into space and then making a landing back to Earth.
04:49So, it's going to be very interesting and then Subhanshu Shukla and the entire AX-4 crew has a 28-hour long journey in front of them.
04:56They'll be rendezvousing with the International Space Station about 400 kilometers Earth on Thursday at around 4.30 PM.
05:03So, overall, it's going to be a very, very exciting mission today and then on to tomorrow.
05:08And the highlight of this is that we have Istro's astronaut, you know, the man of the moment really for us, Subhanshu Shukla,
05:15who is, in fact, ready for his trystress destiny, isn't it, in a sense?
05:22Shibu.
05:24For sure, this is going to be a historic mission for India, for Subhanshu Shukla and especially for Lucknow from where he comes.
05:34The entire school, the city Montesquieu school from where he has studied is ready to watch the entire mission.
05:40His parents are excited. His wife and four-year-old son are in Florida. They bid him a farewell before the launch.
05:47For the next 14 days, he'll be in space and it's going to be a lot exciting because he'll be conducting over seven experiments for Istro.
05:54In all, the AX-4 mission is carrying over 60 scientific studies during this expedition.
05:59So, overall, it's going to be very, very exciting for India and for the world.
06:03You know, talk to us in detail, you know, about these experiments that you mentioned that would be carried out over a period of time.
06:10It has been an amazing journey. These are moments that really...
06:14So, once Srivanshu Shukla docks the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station,
06:20Istro has designed seven specific experiments that will be led by him.
06:24These experiments have come from all across Indian academia, from Indian experts and scientists.
06:29They will eventually feed into the Gaganyan mission.
06:31Now, Gaganyan is India's own space mission, which is expected to launch in 2027.
06:37So, all the learnings that Srivanshu Shukla goes through during this mission will eventually feed into the Gaganyan mission and its development.
06:44Some of these experiments include studying about tardigrades.
06:48Now, these are microorganisms that survive in extreme weather environments.
06:51That's right. You know, Shibu, be with us.
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