Houston [US], July 14 (ANI): The hatch of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Grace was closed and the indicator aligned on Monday, marking final preparations for the undocking of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew from the International Space Station (ISS) after nearly 20 days in orbit.
The undocking from the ISS is scheduled for approximately 4:35 PM IST today. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla — the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS — will pilot the spacecraft as part of the four-member crew.
With the hatch now sealed, the crew has boarded the spacecraft, initiating departure operations. Undocking procedures are expected to begin at about 6:45 AM EDT (4:15 PM IST), with actual undocking at approximately 7:05 AM EDT (4:30 PM IST).
The Grace spacecraft is slated to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of California in the Pacific Ocean around 3 PM IST on Tuesday, July 15, after a 22.5-hour return journey.
Ahead of departure, ISS Commander Takuya Onishi led a farewell ceremony, expressing gratitude and admiration for the Ax-4 crew’s contributions to the station and their pioneering role in private spaceflight.
“Peggy, Shux, Suave, Tibor — we really enjoyed your company and thank you for bringing so much joy, excitement, inspiration, and professionalism to make our experience here even better. Your dedication to science and your profession sets a new standard for private astronaut missions. We hope you enjoyed your time here and that it becomes an unforgettable moment in your lives,” Onishi said.
Commander Peggy Whitson, the Ax-4 mission lead, responded warmly: “We really enjoyed ourselves up here. It was an amazing experience. It’s special to work with folks who became our friends, and the camaraderie and teaching were really exceptional.”
Earlier Sunday, Group Captain Shukla delivered an emotional farewell from orbit, quoting India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma with a modern twist: “Aaj ka Bharat abhi bhi saare jahaan se acha dikhta hai” (Today’s India is still more splendid than the entire world).
The Ax-4 crew includes Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), European Space Agency astronaut Slawosz “Suave” Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) astronaut Tibor Kapu. Over the past three weeks, the team engaged in numerous research and outreach activities aboard the ISS.
According to NASA, the Dragon spacecraft will return with over 580 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from more than 60 experiments conducted during the mission.
Axiom Mission 4 launched on June 25 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft docked successfully with the ISS on June 26 at 4:05 PM IST, ahead of schedule, connecting to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. (ANI)
About The Author
