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On Thursday, Axiom Space hosted its first joint press conference with the next astronauts assigned to the Ax-4 mission, including Hungarian Tibor Kapu. The mission is particularly special from a Hungarian perspective as the last time the country sent an astronaut into space was in 1980, more than 44 years ago.
Experienced Commander Peggy Whitson from the USA, who will be leading a commercial astronaut mission for the second time, said that for her three companions, this space mission is unique not only because they are “newbies,” but because it has been more than 40 years since any of their nations has sent a human into space. She revealed that
Axiom Space has been intensively preparing and training the team for the mission since last August.
They are learning systems for the International Space Station (ISS) and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft they are flying with, as well as how to respond and address medical and spacecraft emergencies, she detailed. The Commander added, she is also trying to do her best to import some of her almost 40 years’ worth of space and science experience to her crew.
During the event, the mission’s patch was presented for the first time. The four ascending lines represent not only the view from a window above our planet, but also “the four countries represented by the crew, ascending from the earth to work on the ISS for a common goal,” Whitson explained. The seven stars represent the inclusivity of all continents of Earth, while the gem shape symbolizes “how precious humanity is and how we share responsibility to protect and cherish our planet.”
Introducing the #Ax4 mission patch.
The 4 ascending lines represent the 4 countries represented by the crew—ascending from the “4-corners-of-earth” to work on the ISS for a common goal.
⭐️The 7 stars represent the inclusivity of all continents of Earth.
The gem shape… pic.twitter.com/fi9LUpIsyX— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) January 30, 2025
Besides Peggy Whitson, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, Mission Pilot Shubanshu Shukla of India, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary also gave an update on their training and their aims.
Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer, was selected as an astronaut for the Hungarian to the Orbit (HUNOR) Program in May last year. At the press event, he said watching the Olympics and cheering to his nation’s athletes “like a family member,” he always wanted to be someone who has his own jersey. He expressed his gratitude towards his country, saying, “I cannot be prouder to represent my nation, having my own ‘jersey’ with my name and flag on it.”
Hungary is a small country with big history and big dreams. And Hungarian is a language spoken by very few people but many talents. That is the reason we decided to initiate a space program 2021 to select and prepare a Hungarian to conduct Hungarian research on board the ISS,”
Tibor Kapu explained.
He added that the Hungarian space program focuses on building its strengths in space heritage, such as in dosimetry, space nutrition, life sciences and human biology. He noted that within the framework of the program, they made an open call asking all the Hungarian universities, companies and research groups who might be interested what science experiments they would do in space.
As a result, “we collected dozens of experiments from all over the country.”
The goal of the Hungarian space program, he said, is to “gain a foothold in the space community, to contribute to the global space industrial academia, and to sit at the same table with the giants. Thanks to this mission, here we are: we are sitting at this table.”
In response to a journalist’s question, Tibor Kapu gave a precise insight into the research program of HUNOR, to be carried out on the ISS. “Radiation and microgravity are two of the unique selling points of the International Space Station that it can provide,” he said. As an example, he mentioned that they will measure radiation and other environmental data with an extraordinarily small device as part of the dosimetric experiments. The device has two systems: an active and a backup system, both low-energy.
Because of the small weight and the low energy, it will be “a very good candidate” for future log-time space flights,
he said.
Regarding the research project on microgravity, they will conduct physical experiments, as well as medical demonstrations. He pointed out that they will test new methods for treating the so-called Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS), i.e. visual impairment caused by microgravity.
The exact start date of the mission is not yet known, but NASA’s latest announcement on Wednesday suggest that the earliest it could be launched is spring 2025. According to current plans, the Ax-4 mission will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop of a Falcon 9 rocket. The four astronauts are expected to spend 14 days on board the ISS.
.@NASA and its international partners have approved the crew for Axiom Space’s fourth private astronaut mission to the @Space_Station, launching from @NASAKennedy in Florida no earlier than spring 2025.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at… pic.twitter.com/HIb2otrmjx
— NASA Space Operations (@NASASpaceOps) January 29, 2025
Featured image via Facebook/Axiom Space