SpaceX F9/Crew Dragon : Axiom AX-4 : KSC LC-39A : 25 June 2025 (06:31 UTC)

[ddspaceman]

Shubhanshu Shukla
@gagan_shux
White night in Orbit.
White nights are phenomenon that occurs at high latitudes where in summers the sun does not set due to the angles.

In Orbit we experience 16 sunrises and sunsets in a day. But not always.
Welcome beta angle- it is the angle between the orbital plane and the sun’s position. 0 beta angle means almost half the orbit in dark and 90 beta angle means sunlight throughout. This does not mean that angles less than 90 cannot have continuous sunlight which is exactly what the video shows. The sun goes down but does not set.

We landed on the station and then high beta occurred (beta >60). And in high beta docking/ undocking is avoided due to high thermal stress and limited heat rejection. In space shuttle days, during free flight the shuttle was slowly rolled in “barbeque mode” at beta> 60 to deal with this problem which can still be done with vehicles in free flight. But docking/ undocking are very slow processes and you can’t roll while doing it.

The second constraint is on the solar array. You see in the video Solar arrays are moving as they always are to optimize power generation. During high beta their positioning gets restricted due to unequal thermal stress on the structure. 
Combined effect of these two issues- we got additional 4 days on Orbit.

I am not the one complaining. 😊

#shux #iss #space #axiom4 #isro #shubhanshushukla #sun

https://twitter.com/gagan_shux/status/1967221917158654064

[ddspaceman]

Looks cool but We space nuts know there is nothing up there but a closet.

Peggy Whitson
@AstroPeggy
The best way to end an interview in space..

https://twitter.com/AstroPeggy/status/1973051348355522852

[ddspaceman]

What Shubhanshu Shukla's AX4 Mission Means For Space Exploration? Axiom Space CEO EXCLUSIVE

[ddspaceman]

Chris Hadfield
@Cmdr_Hadfield
A lovely new in-space music video, on the same guitar I played, from friend and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu with the Bagossy Brothers - great how many schoolchildren participated:

https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/1977013607193100473