The Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), featuring Polish astronaut Dr. Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, has been rescheduled to launch on June 8 at 15:11 CEST (9:11 a.m. Florida time), according to Axiom Space. The mission was originally planned for May 29.
The AX-4 crew consists of: Peggy Whitson (USA) – mission commander; Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland/ESA) – mission specialist; Shubhanshu Shukla (India) – mission pilot, and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) – mission specialist.
The astronauts will spend 14 days aboard the ISS, conducting scientific research focused on areas such as the effects of microgravity on the human body, Earth observation, and next-generation fuels.
As part of the Polish IGNIS mission, 13 experiments will be conducted in orbit, covering fields such as medicine, biology, biotechnology, and engineering. The mission will also include scheduled radio communications between the Polish astronaut and amateur radio operators in Poland.
Dr. Uznański-Wiśniewski will also perform a series of educational demonstrations in space, which will be recorded for use in Polish science education. These include experiments with Newton’s cradle in zero gravity and demonstrations of simple electrical circuits, such as a telegraph key.
The astronaut will carry with him symbolic Polish items, including the Polish flag that Hermaszewski wore on his spacesuit during his 1978 mission, fragment of De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), the groundbreaking work by astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, a piece of Baltic amber, salt from the historic Wieliczka mine, a manuscript of Frédéric Chopin’s Mazurka in A-flat Major, poems by Polish poet Wisława Szymborska, and handmade lace from central Poland.
The Ax-4 mission will be another commercial crewed expedition carried out by Axiom Space. The Pole’s participation in this mission is the result of an agreement signed between the Polish Ministry of Development and Technology and ESA to prepare and conduct the Polish scientific and technological mission IGNIS to the ISS. The Polish Space Agency (POLSA) is also involved in the preparations as an executive agency of the Ministry of Technology and Technology.
Dr. Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski will become the second Pole in space, following Mirosław Hermaszewski, who flew aboard the Soyuz 30 mission in 1978.
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