Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) [India], June 26 (ANI): Special prayers were offered for Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who became the second Indian to go into space, during the Bhasma Aarti at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.

The Hari Om Bhakt Mandal, which attended the Bhasma Aarti every day, prayed to Baba Mahakaleshwar at the temple with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's photograph in hand. They prayed for the success of the work and mission for which Group Captain Shukla has gone under the Axiom 4 Mission.

Thousands of devotees attend the Bhasma Aarti in the Brahma Muhurt every day. On Thursday, the Bhasma Aarti of Mahakaleshwar, was done after the Panchamrit Puja Abhishek and Maha Vijaya Snan was offered to Baba Mahakaleshwar, followed by incense and lamp Aartis.

The Axiom Mission 4 or Ax-4, was launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 2:31 am Eastern Time (12 Noon IST) on Wednesday.

With this, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian to go into space after Indian Air Force Officer Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. Sharma spent seven days in space on board the Salyut 7 space station.

Axiom-4 is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The crew is travelling to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 am Eastern Time (4 pm IST) on Thursday, June 26.

Once docked, the astronauts plan to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprised of science, outreach, and commercial activities.

Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, is in command of the mission along with specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. (ANI)