Shubhanshu Shukla Returns to Earth

Twenty days after he set off for the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom 4 mission, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla touched back on Earth mid-afternoon of July 15, marking a milestone for India in its journey to become a space power. It took 22 hours from when the spacecraft undocked from the ISS for the crew to splashdown at the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, California, United States.

Altogether he was 18 days in the ISS, the first Indian to ever set foot there. Before the departure, on July 13, at the livestreamed farewell address of the crew, Shukla spoke about his main takeaways from this historic moment for him. He said, ‘Over the past two and a half weeks or so, we have done a lot of science on the station. We have done outreach activities and also looked back at the earth. Whatever time we found we were always looking out the window and it almost seems magical to me.’

Besides being the pilot of the spacecraft, he conducted a number of experiments at the ISS on behalf of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) which had sent him on this mission. Axiom 4 was a commercial venture by Axiom Space in which India and three other nations purchased seats. For India, it was a precursor to its own manned space mission Gaganyaan which is slated for 2027. The experience gathered by both Shukla and ISRO will be of immense value for India to join the extremely select group of countries that have sent manned missions.

As Shukla had said at the farewell event addressing Indians, ‘To my fellow countrymen, our journey together, mine and yours, still has a long way to go. India’s human space mission journey is long and difficult. But I can tell you that if we decide, even stars are attainable’

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