Axiom Space will send one astronaut each from Hungary, Poland and India to the International Space Station.Continue reading
Tibor Kapu and Gyula Cserényi, two candidates of the HUNOR astronaut program, are preparing for the Ax-4 mission with the help of colleagues and experienced astronauts. They gave a video interview to Kossuth Radio from the Axiom Space base in Houston, writes Világgazdaság.
As Hungary Today previously reported, the entire Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew arrived in Houston in early August, and training for the participants has begun under the direction of veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson. The Axiom mission is expected to be launched next spring, as it has been postponed due to required interagency approval processes.
The two Hungarian candidates explained in their interview that their days in Houston are very busy, their training is professional, and their schedules are well-organized.
Reserve astronaut Gyula Cserényi said that their training is conducted by three institutions: NASA, Axiom, and SpaceX.
Mr. Cserényi pointed out that an important part of NASA training is to prepare them for everyday tasks such as preparing food, washing up, using the toilet, packing and making beds. These basic, seemingly very simple things are much more difficult in space as there are 35 step-by-step instructions for each task.
The most impressive thing about their training is that they have to relearn everything, from eating to sleeping,
emphasized Tibor Kapu, citing the cleaning work as an example. Even vacuuming is a very complex task in space, requiring permission from the ground staff. He explained that vacuuming up the crumbs is very important, because in a state of weightlessness they can stick to the airflow and clog the filters or fly into the astronauts’ eyes.
On board the space station, all the basic living conditions that are taken for granted on Earth must be guaranteed.
Therefore, we need to create an airflow that takes away our body heat, we need to make sure that our sweat and our vapor get to the filtration systems,”
the astronaut listed the challenges.
When asked about the food, Kapu noted that NASA astronauts can eat a 200-item menu on board the space station. The crew must taste the food before the space mission. He recalled that the first difficult moment during training was that they had to taste 70 dishes in small pieces one after the other.
In addition to the Hungarian astronaut, the four-person crew of the Ax-4 mission also includes American astronaut Peggy Whitson, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, and Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański. Kapu noted that Whitson will act as commander and Shukla as pilot, while Uznański will assist him as mission specialist. He praised Commander Peggy Whitson, pointing out that this will be her fifth space mission, she has spent 675 days in space, and she has great expertise, experience, and work ethic.
As for the training, Cserényi said that he and Kapu will do most of it together and that he will learn all the experiments so that he can provide support from Earth during the mission.
It also became clear during the interview that the two astronaut candidates are not “taking it easy” until the launch, but are concentrating on day-to-day business, as they have a very full training schedule. Next week, Cserényi will take an exam in emergency protocols, while Kapu will continue his training with the rocket, capsule, and spacesuit.
The Ax-4 mission will launch from Florida – scheduled for spring – on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle aboard the Dragon spacecraft,
and the four astronauts are expected to spend 14 days on board the International Space Station.
Via Világgazdaság; Featured image via MTI/Hegedüs Róbert