Hungarian in space again! (part1)

This year,  25. June at 8:31 in Central European Time, the moment finally came when our second compatriot set off into space as a member of an international crew (picture 1). The launch and the preparatory operations preceding it went smoothly this time. At the time of writing, the crew has long since returned to Earth, and its members are celebrated as heroes in their own country. I know that people have written and spoken about the essence of space flight or its history in many places and in many ways, but let's take a quick look at what it is all about.

 Forty-five years ago, on May 26, 1980, Bertalan Farkas traveled to the soviet Salyut-6 space station as a researcher cosmonaut under the "hands" of the Soviet/Russian Valery Kubasov. The four-member crew (in the terminology of the time: "ekvipázs"; it's a pfonetic transcription of franchise "équipage", that means crew) conducted various material, medical and earth science experiments, some of them as Hungarian initiatives. The Kubasov-Farkas pair returned to Earth on June 3, 1980 in the territory of the Soviet Union (now Kazakhstan). The scientific work produced numerous results, the most notable of which was the Pille dosimeter developed for the Doza Experiment, which can be used to determine the amount of radiation received by the astronauts in real time. The device has been used since then, with some further development, e.g. on the ISS. Over the past four and a half decades, a lot has happened in Hungarian space activities, but we had to wait until yesterday for our second astronaut/cosmonaut. More precisely, there was also a "first and a half": Charles Simonyi, an American software developer of Hungarian origin (son of Hungarian physicist Károly Simonyi), traveled to space twice as a paid space traveler (in the simplest terms: space tourist), in the spring of 2007 and 2009 for 2 weeks each. The classification is somewhat unfair, since he is a Hungarian by origin, and on the other hand, he also worked on biomedical, microbiological and materials science topics on the ISS. However, it is important to add that he did not reach the space station as a representative of a country or state agency. And although he received similar training as the "professionals", he paid for the trip "out of his own pocket", so his hands were not as tied as those who entered the circle through selection.

 A government decision on the program for the next Hungarian research astronaut was published in the Hungarian Official Gazette on July 30, 2021, and the announcement was made by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó. With the statement of Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research Dr. Ferencz Orsolya, on October 28, 2021, the astronaut selection process officially began, and the program was also given a name: HUNOR, which, in addition to the Hungarian prehistoric reference is an abbreviation for the phrase Hungarian to Orbit. (Hunor is a brother of Magor/Magyar, latter is the common ancestor  of the Hungarian nation in the legend - Hunor is same for Huns). The simplified logo of the program can be seen in the 2nd image (the official emblem is currently under trademark protection, but can be viewed here, for example). 

Although Hungarian space activities are primarily managed by the Hungarian Scientific Council for Space Research (ŰTT), HUNOR also had to meet the requirements of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the launch company SpaceX, and the organizer Axiom Space. In addition to them, several organizations also carried out background work, such as the Energiatudományi Kutatóközpont (Energy Science Research Center, whose Space Research Laboratory coordinated the implementation of the space flight), the Hungarian Defense Forces (stress tests with Gripen fighters), Semmelweis University (full medical assessment of applicants), and the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Luft und Raumfahrt, DLR, measuring cognitive and sensory abilities). The selection process ended on January 31, 2022, and 247 applications were accepted in the first round out of thousands of interested applicants. The public was first informed about the results of the multi-stage procedure on March 7, 2023. According to this, the four astronaut candidates are (picture 6, in order: an orthopedic surgeon Ádám Schlégl MD. (and the member of Hungarian Science Academy, MTA), an aerospace  design engineer András Szakály, a mechanical engineer Tibor Kapu and a high-current engineer Gyula Cserényi. Following the ministerial announcement on May 27, 2024, it became clear: Tibor Kapu will be our country's next research astronaut, Gyula Cserényi will be the backup, while the other two candidates would be assigned to the ground support crew. 

The Axiom-4 (or just Ax-4) missions' implementation may seem a bit complicated: the participating countries/space agencies contract with Axiom Space as a travel agency, which then rents the launch vehicle and spacecraft from SpaceX (more precisely, the seats). The launch permit and launch site are provided by NASA, but the issuance of the permit is likely to depend on other government agencies. The special feature of the four-person "crew" is that its commander is a veteran astronaut, Peggy A. Whitson. The 65-year-old biochemist astronaut has been to the ISS five times, making her the longest-serving woman in space. She is also the first female commander of the ISS to hold this position twice. She has been an Axiom Space astronaut since 2018. The mission's reserve commander is a 67-year-old Spanish-American Michael López-Alegria, who with 10 "spacewalks" is second in terms of time spent outside the spacecraft/space station. The Ax-4 pilot is Shubhanshu Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force pilot and one of the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronauts for manned Gaganyaan program, of which the self-developed and eponymous spacecraft is a key element. Shukla is the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma, who flew with the Soviets to the Salyut-7 space station in 1984. He will conduct seven experiments related to medicine and microbiology. His backup is Prasanth Nair, also a test pilot in his 48th year and one of the four trained ISRO astronauts (although I have no evidence of this, I strongly suspect that they named their manned space program after Gagarin). There are two mission specialists on board, one of whom is 33-year-old Tibor Kapu, who will perform nearly 30 scientific and technical operations during the roughly two-week journey; these were put together by Hungarian research institutes and companies specifically for the so-called microgravity environment experienced in space. These are mostly related to Earth observation, atmospheric physics (e.g. cyclone modeling and the study of strange upper atmospheric electrooptical phenomena so-called red sprites), crop production, materials science and genetics, but there is also 3D printing. His partner, 41-year-old Pole Stawosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, is also performing similar tasks. Previously, he was one of the engineers at European Nuclear Research Center (CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and now he is an ESA engineer and astronaut (an interesting addition is that he was born on April 12, 1984, the 23rd anniversary of the first space flight). He is also the second from his country to go into space, before him Miroszław Hermaszewski on Salyut-6 in 1978. Uznański-Wiśniewski will work on the ISS within the framework of the Ignis  (Fire in Latin) joint project of ESA and the Polish Space Agency (POLSA). He is preparing 13 experiments, for example, in genetics, medicine, pharmacology, radiation biology, and AI. Picture 4 shows the crew members - for backup crew, see picture 8:

The two-stage Falcon-9 launch vehicle and the also two-part Crew Dragon spacecraft were used for the Axiom-4 mission. Both devices are partially reusable, which can significantly reduce costs. In addition, the brand new No.  C213 Crew Dragon is being used for Ax-4. To be honest, I didn't envy Tibor for getting up early, as the launch took place at 2:31 AM (!) in Eastern Time (GMT-5   hours) from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Apart from that, practically everything went smoothly. Ministerial Commissioner Dr. Orsolya Ferencz and Dr. Ádám Schlégl were also present at the event. The first stage of the Falcon-9 stopped after about two minutes of operation (Main Engine Cut-Off, MECO), separated and returned normally. The second stage stopped after a little more than 9 minutes of the launch process (Second Engine Cut-Off, SECO), but before that it brought the Dragon to an orbit of 198-200 km and accelerated it to a speed of about 28 thousand km/h (the latter is necessary for the creation of weightlessness in the vehicle and for maintaining the orbit). After reaching orbit, the Ax-4 spacecraft has named: Grace. From there, the spacecraft will use its own engines and make small changes to its trajectory to reach the space station, which is orbiting at an altitude of approximately 400 km.

And finally let me quote Tibor's message to the Hungarians here, which unfortunately I cannot decide how spontaneous or pre-written it was. Whichever it is, it is of no importance, because it really contains everything that makes the moment even more majestic:

"15 million Hungarians have lifted me up here, your support is like an ember resting beneath gray ash. It glows silently inside, but if you throw wood at it, it blazes as one. I am grateful and proud to be able to represent our homeland. I thank my family and friends for being my strongest supports, your voice is louder than our rocket, your strength is greater than gravity. Outer space belongs to everyone, and the Earth is only one. We started from four different points of our planet, but we arrived here as teammates, as friends. Our mission is yours too. Thank you to everyone around the world who contributed to this beautiful day. Everything is hard for one, nothing is impossible for many." 

(And if I understood correctly, he ended his speech with the phrase "Go Explore"). If you'd like, you can listen the speech here. 

On the next day, Grace spaceship docked the Harmony module on ISS (it's still called Node 2 in the 5th picture, on the bottom right).

(To be continued...)

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