Delays are accompanied by AX-4 from spring. The original plan assumed the start on May 29, later it was postponed to June 8, when it turned out that the new capsule still requires the replacement of the battery and work on the propulsion and environmental system. When the technical problems were solved, matters were thwarted by the weather in Florida, forcing SpaceX, NASA and Axiom Space teams to use the spare date. This time it's June 11.
C213 is the fifth and probably the last manned Dragon built by SpaceX. According to Walker, the capsule needed additional tests, because, unlike previous copies, it is not a vehicle converted from the goods version, but a completely new design. Her debut is to show that the company is able to maintain the pace of six Dragon missions annually despite the growing occupancy.
Space mission for two weeks
The AX-4 mission itself will last about two weeks. After the planned docking on June 11 The crew will join Expedition 73 on the ISS, implementing a record -breaking program for a private expedition nearly 60 experiments. These are Research prepared jointly by NASA and the Indian space agency ISRO, e.g. muscle tissue regeneration, plant germination, microalg cultivation, observation of uncommon and ergonomics of interfaces in microgravity.
For Poland, AX-4 is primarily an Ignis mission. Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, as a specialist of a mission, will conduct 13 experiments developed by national universities and companies in cooperation with ESA. They include both research on the body's immunity and mental health of astronauts, as well as technological demonstrations (artificial intelligence of Leopardiss or radiation monitor Radmon-On-Iiss), tests of new MXENE materials and biotechnological tests with volcanic algae and yeast modified proteins of non-child.
Who is Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski?
Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski was born in 1984 in Łódź. He is a double master (Lodz University of Technology and Université de Nantes) and a doctor of space electronics of the AIX-Marsille University. After a doctorate He worked as a reliability engineer in CERNwhere he was responsible for radiation resistant LHC power systems.
In 2022 he went to the reserve of ESA astronauts, and a year later he began training in Cologne and Houston. He combines the passion for high-mountain expeditions with passion for popularizing science, published works on the impact of radiation on electronics, organized CERN-NASA workshops and evaluated European space projects in the Horizon 2020 program. A flight to the ISS will make him the first Polish astronaut and the first Pole at the station.
The AX-4 has not only scientific but also symbolic. In one capsule they meet the experience of the American flight record holder Peggy Whitson and debutants representing India, Poland and Hungary – three countries returning to manned exploration after more than four decades of break.
If the weather conditions allow, already on Wednesday morning the local C213 capsule will open a new chapter both in the history of Dragon and the history of Polish presence in space.
