ISRO Gears Up for Axiom-4 Mission to ISS

NATIONAL

April 29, 2025
Thematic Focus: Space Technology | Biotechnology | Scientific Research | GS Paper 3

🕊️ Intro Whisper:

Where gravity loosens its grip, science holds tighter to discovery.

🔹 Key Highlights: ISRO Gears Up for Axiom-4 Mission to ISS

• Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) set for May 2025
• Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to conduct 7 microgravity experiments
• Project marks India’s deepening collaboration with global space research

🧪 What is Microgravity?

• Microgravity: State of extremely low gravity (≈ one-millionth of Earth’s gravity)
• Enables weightlessness, crucial for studying unobservable Earth-bound phenomena
• Helps understand cell behavior, protein folding, plant growth, material science

🔬 ISRO’s 7 Selected Experiments (Axiom-4)

1. Impact of Radiation on Edible Microalgae
2. Sprouting Salad Seeds in Space
3. Growth Response of Cyanobacteria under Nitrogen Variants
4. Survival of Paramacrobiotus sp. (a eutardigrade/tardigrade)
5. Human Interaction with Displays in Space Conditions
6. Muscle Regeneration under Metabolic Supplements
7. Impact on Crop Seed Growth & Yield under Microgravity

🚀 Strategic & Scientific Significance

• Data expected to enhance biotech, food security, and health research
• Promotes India’s leadership in microgravity studies
• Boosts space pharmaceuticals and regenerative medicine
• Builds groundwork for future human spaceflight experiments and Gaganyaan missions

🧭 Concept Explainer:

Microgravity research is the science of weightless revelation. It opens a portal into how life behaves without gravity — from the structure of proteins to the sprouting of seeds. For India, this mission is a bold handshake between science, space, and future industries.

🧾 GS Mapping:

• GS Paper 3: Science & Technology | Biotechnology | Space Missions
• GS Paper 2: India–US Science Collaboration | International Scientific Cooperation

💠 A Thought Spark — by IAS Monk:

“Some truths of life float up only when gravity lets go. In the silence of space, the secrets of matter speak.”