Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla Returns Safely After Historic ISS Mission

Shubhanshu Shukla Returns Safely from International Space Station

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, India’s first astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS), returned safely to Earth on Tuesday, concluding a historic mission.

Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 team, a four-member international crew that travelled to the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule ‘Grace.’ The spacecraft landed in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, at around 3:01 pm IST, after a 22-hour journey back from orbit.

SpaceX confirmed the successful splashdown on social media, posting:
“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, AstroPeggy, Shux, astro_slawosz, and Tibi!”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Shukla, calling the mission a proud moment for India.
“As the first Indian to visit the ISS, Shukla has inspired a billion dreams. His courage and commitment mark an important step toward India’s own human spaceflight mission – Gaganyaan,” the PM wrote on X.

Shukla, a pilot with the Indian Air Force, flew alongside Peggy Whitson (USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary). The team left the ISS on Monday at 2:00 pm IST and began their return to Earth.

This mission was full of milestones. It made Shukla the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 journey and also marked the first ISS visit for astronauts from Poland and Hungary.

India’s space agency ISRO celebrated the achievement, calling it a “milestone for India’s space ambitions.” The experience is seen as valuable preparation for the upcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight, planned for 2027.

During his two-week stay on the ISS, Shukla completed 310 orbits of Earth, traveling over 13 million kilometers — about 33 times the distance to the Moon. The crew also witnessed over 300 sunrises and sunsets from space.

ISRO confirmed that Shukla successfully completed all seven planned microgravity experiments, which included tests on Indian tardigrades, seed sprouting, cyanobacteria, microalgae, and muscle development.

The Crew Dragon Grace was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 25, and the Axiom-4 crew reached the ISS the next day. They were welcomed by the station’s crew, which included astronauts from the U.S., Japan, and Russia.

This was SpaceX’s 18th human spaceflight since it began crewed missions in 2020, highlighting a new era in commercial space travel.

Highlights:

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla safely returns to Earth after historic ISS mission.
Shukla is the first Indian to visit the International Space Station, following Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 spaceflight.
He completed over 310 orbits and seven microgravity experiments during the mission.
The mission boosts India’s human spaceflight ambitions ahead of the Gaganyaan launch planned for 2027.

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