The Indian crewed mission Axiom-4 was postponed because of a leak in the forward stage of the Falcon booster in the course of testing. The mission was to launch Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station, possibly making him the country’s first spaceflier. It was set to launch on June 11, 2025. Alongside him were mission commander Peggy Whitson (USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), with a plush swan toy named Joy as their symbolic zero-gravity indicator.

Axiom-4 Launch Delayed by Falcon 9 Leak, India’s First Spacecraft Pilot Awaits Historic Liftoff

As per ISRO Chairman V Narayanan, during the test, a LOx leak in the propulsion bay was detected. Axiom Space and SpaceX technical experts discussed the issue and decided to address it and make sure the system works properly before the next launch date. People are waiting for a new launch date, but the delay is considered a vital step to maintain the safety requirements for operations and crew. Axiom Space says that Ax-4 is the first time in more than 40 years that the government has supported a human spaceflight from India, Poland, or Hungary.

Shukla is set to become the first Indian to pilot a spacecraft, a milestone unmatched even by Rakesh Sharma’s historic 1984 mission. He will be joined by Peggy Whitson (mission commander, USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary). A plush toy swan named Joy will accompany them as a zero-gravity indicator. The crew is in pre-launch quarantine now. In preparation for the mission, they have undergone complex simulations, theoretical discussions, and ocean splashdown drills.

On their missions onboard the ISS, the team will carry out 60 scientific experiments, seven of which have been led by Shukla. The partnership of 31 nations, which comprises human physiology in space, artificial intelligence, materials science, and biological studies, displays the mission’s global collaborative nature and universal scientific ambition.

India, with cooperative foreign partners, will carry out Ax-4, a mission to “conduct one or a few experiments in space”, once the issue with the Falcon 9 is resolved and the final tests are met. This is going to be one of the biggest moments in history.

The likelihood of asteroid 2024 YR4 pummelling into the moon in December 2032 has been increased by new data gathered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) by NASA. Feared to be the largest Earth impact threat ever detected, the asteroid’s odds of striking the Moon are now 4.3 percent, compared with 3.8 percent, as per a NASA release. The update comes after scientists refined its predicted path by nearly 20% using JWST’s Near-Infrared Camera. While the asteroid is currently too far to observe from Earth, its May reappearance offered a rare window to recalculate its future orbit.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 Now Deemed Safe as NASA Confirms No Earth Impact Risk in 2032 or Beyond

As per a NASA update and findings led by Andy Rivkin at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, even a direct impact would not disturb the Moon’s orbit, Astronomer Pawan Kumar, formerly of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, agreed the risk is negligible, explaining that debris from such a collision would either remain lunar-bound or disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere. Asteroid 2024 YR4, about the size of a 10-story building, was discovered in December 2023. The flying space rock had a 3.1 percent chance of hitting Earth, the highest probability a big asteroid has ever had of striking the planet.

The asteroid captured world attention early in 2024 when it appeared that it could strike the planet over a wide region that included the Pacific, South America, Africa, and Asia. While NASA dismissed tsunami threats, an airburst over a populated region could have shattered windows and caused minor damage. However, by February 24, after extensive observation, the agency officially ruled out any danger, reducing the Earth impact probability to 0.004%.

Additional telescope data from Chile and Hawaii traced 2024 YR4’s origin to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It transitioned into a near-Earth orbit over time. The space rock is now beyond visual range but will re-enter telescope visibility in 2028, allowing scientists another opportunity to study its physical characteristics and update trajectory estimates.

Though now deemed safe, the asteroid served as a real-world rehearsal for planetary defense systems. “2024 YR4 is a tailor-made asteroid for planetary defense efforts,” Kumar noted. From initial detection to global communication, the episode provided a full-cycle test of how Earth would react to a genuine asteroid threat, offering invaluable insights for future preparedness.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures mid-infrared wavelength images of the Sombrero Galaxy in late 2024. The James Webb of NASA, on June 3, 2025, released an image of the Sombrero Galaxy, occupied with stars that illuminate when the dust towards the outer edges of the discs blocks the light. The Sombrero Galaxy study by JWST and the Hubble telescope, at different wavelengths, near-infrared and mid-infrared, gives astronomers an understanding of the formation and evolution of gas, dust, and stars, along with the interplay of the material.

Near-Infrared Image Highlights Dust and Star Formation

NASA’s observation about this near-infrared snap of the Sombrero Galaxy, caught with the JWST camera, shows the striking contrast between the luminous core of the galaxy along the dusty outer disk. This image shows how the dust lane blocks the light coming from the stars at the edges of the galaxy. The tightly packed central bulge contains roughly 2,000 star clusters, illuminating in the near-infrared wavelengths.

Comparative Insights from Mid-Infrared and Near-Infrared Observations

By comparing this new near-infrared image with the old image of Webb, which was released in late 2024, astronomers can understand the formation and evolution of the dust, stars, and gases within the galaxy. The mid-infrared image showed the glowing dust in the outer ring, however, the infrared view demonstrates how effectively these wavelengths pass. This reveals the full stellar bulge packed with stars.

Split-View Reveals Stellar and Dust Distribution Differences

A near inspection of this split-view image, near the infrared on one side, and mid-infrared towards the other side, shows the differences in the appearance of galactic components. In the near infrared, red giant stars stand out, whereas the hotter blue stars blur away, and the outer disk looks patchier because of the variations in the distribution of the dust.

Signs of Ancient Galactic Mergers in the Sombrero Galaxy

The Webb’s survey regarding multi-wavelength supports the theory that the Sombrero Galaxy underwent the past mergers at least more than one. The warped inner disk presence, chemical diversity among the globular clusters, and clumpy dust structures lead to a complex formation of interactions with other galaxies, billions of years ago.