Houston [US], July 15 (ANI): Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, affectionately known as ‘Shux,’ waved to the cameras with a bright smile as he stepped out of the Dragon spacecraft on Tuesday, marking the completion of his historic mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Piloting the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Grace, Shukla safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast after nearly 19 days in space. The mission, Axiom-4 (Ax-4), was hailed as a significant milestone in Indo-US space cooperation and India’s journey toward its own human spaceflight program, Gaganyaan.
Welcoming Shukla’s return, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian Air Force officer and ISRO astronaut, saying he had “inspired a billion dreams through his dedication.” Modi called the achievement a proud moment for India and a step forward in the nation’s aspirations for human space exploration.
The successful splashdown was confirmed by SpaceX, concluding an 18-day stay aboard the ISS. The Grace spacecraft carried back to Earth the Ax-4 crew, which included Commander Peggy Whitson, ESA project astronaut Slawosz “Suave” Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and HUNOR astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary, along with Shukla.
SpaceX kept space enthusiasts updated throughout reentry, announcing the key milestones of the deorbit burn, jettisoning of the trunk, and the closing and securing of Dragon’s nosecone before reentry. “Dragon’s deorbit burn is complete and the trunk has been jettisoned,” SpaceX posted on X. Later, it confirmed the crew’s safe landing approximately 22.5 hours after undocking.
NASA, in its mission update blog, confirmed the undocking of Grace from the ISS at 7:15 am EDT (4:45 pm IST) Monday from the space-facing port of the Harmony module, wrapping up Axiom’s fourth private astronaut mission to the station.
During their time on the ISS, the Ax-4 crew conducted over 60 scientific experiments and participated in more than 20 outreach events, as noted by Axiom Space. NASA reported that the Dragon returned to Earth with more than 580 pounds of cargo, including hardware and experiment data collected during the mission.
The mission began on June 25, when the crew launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Dragon docked with the ISS a day later, connecting to the Harmony module ahead of schedule.
For India, Shukla’s participation in the mission represents another milestone as ISRO continues preparations for its Gaganyaan human spaceflight program, aimed at sending Indian astronauts to space aboard indigenous spacecraft.
(ANI)
About The Author
