Peggy Whitson, one of the four astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the Axiom-4 mission, recently took to social media to share a breathtaking image of Earth. Captioning the post, she wrote, “I’ve missed the view.”
After their arrival, the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew members including Whitson, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Slawosz Uznanski, and Tibor Kapu spent their first couple of hours getting accustomed to life on board the space laboratory. The seven-member “Expedition 73” crew assisted them through different systems and assisted them in preparing for future microgravity research.
As stated by Axiom Space, the crew initiated adaptation to microgravity life, working with the Expedition 73 crewmembers on handover procedures and emergency procedures in order to ensure seamless operations. They also transferred essential cargo and safety gear from the Dragon spacecraft to space station.
I’ve missed this view! #Ax4 pic.twitter.com/BEj1rSE7Yc
— Peggy Whitson (@AstroPeggy) June 27, 2025
On Friday, Whitson and her crew quickly started offloading scientific equipment and freezers loaded with samples from within Dragon. Those were installed on station incubators and refrigerators in anticipation of future experiments. As is the usual procedure for visiting spacecraft, station safety gear was temporarily relocated into Dragon.
Once docked, the Ax-4 crew members prepared their sleeping areas: Whitson slept in the ‘Airlock’, Shukla occupied ‘Dragon’, Uznanski in ‘Columbus’, and Kapu slept in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). They also began to install equipment for research activities, transferring samples into other modules to prepare for extensive analysis.
Day one for Group Captain Shukla was spent in redeveloping his new accommodations by transferring cargo from the Grace capsule into the ISS. His second day was to begin with experimental installations.
About the Axiom-4 Mission
Axiom-4 mission is the fourth private astronaut trip to the ISS. It was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket. The commander of the mission is Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space. Uznanski of Poland (representing the European Space Agency) and Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists on board, and Shukla is the mission pilot in the key role.
