ZeroG indicator Pleasure fifth ‘crew’ member of Axiom-4 mission

A brand new ‘crew’ member of the Axiom-4 mission — a toy swan named Pleasure — was seen floating within the Dragon spacecraft as astronauts interacted with the mission management through a videolink on Thursday (June 26, 2025).

Pleasure is the zero gravity indicator carried by the astronauts of the Axiom-4 mission which was chosen as a result of astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s son Kiash’s love for animals.

The custom of flying a toy to mark the second gravity offers option to weightlessness started with Yuri Gagarin, the primary human in area, and has since change into a ritual in area missions.

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“We’re right here, not simply the 4 of us, we even have with us our Zero-G indicator — Pleasure — that began to drift with us simply once we have been injected into orbit. Pleasure is floating everywhere in the capsule, typically we’ve got to seek out him/ her right here with us,” Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski stated.

Group Captain Shukla stated the swan is a superb image that symbolises knowledge and likewise has the flexibility to discern within the age of distraction.

“This implies much more than only a ZeroG indicator. I feel all of us have symbolism, in Poland and Hungary and India as properly,” Group Captain Shukla stated.

Pleasure, the infant swan, embodies the shared pursuit of the Indian Area Analysis Organisation (ISRO), the European Area Company (ESA) and the Hungarian to Orbit program (HUNOR) to soar excessive above our residence planet, Axiom Area stated in an announcement.

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“On this approach, Pleasure represents cultural unity as three nations notice the return to human spaceflight, collectively as one crew,” it stated.

In India, it symbolizes knowledge and purity, representing the pursuit of reality. In Poland, the swan stands for purity, loyalty, and resilience, whereas in Hungary, it epitomizes loyalty, grace, and the fantastic thing about nature.

“By selecting a swan because the zero-g indicator, the Ax-4 crew celebrates the variety of their cultures, united within the shared human expertise of area exploration,” Axiom Area stated.