Context

Indian astronauts Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair have been selected to travel to the US to train for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Axiom-4 Mission 

• It is a mission to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
• It is the fourth private astronaut mission of NASA and Axiom Space, a private US company.
• Objective: Launched in August 2024 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida and dock with the ISS for fourteen days
• The astronauts will train with NASA, international partners and SpaceX as part of India-US space cooperation goals.

International Space Station (ISS)

• A space station is a type of spacecraft that orbits the Earth and where astronauts can stay for long periods for scientific research purposes.
• Currently, two fully functional manned space stations orbit the Earth: the International Space Station and the Chinese Tiangong Space Station
• The International Space Station was launched in 1998.
• It is a joint project of Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada, and Japan.
• Russia has announced that it will withdraw from the International Space Station project by the end of 2024.
• Astronauts use the ISS, which is located about 400 km (250 mi) above Earth, to conduct various research projects.