Axiom-4 Mission: Indian Air Pressure (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, a part of the Axiom-4 area mission, started his return journey to Earth on Monday, marking the top of his 18-day keep aboard the Worldwide House Station (ISS). The Dragon Grace spacecraft will re-enter Earth’s environment and is scheduled to splash down within the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California after a 22.5-hour journey.
Shukla grew to become the primary Indian astronaut to go to the Worldwide House Station (ISS) and have become an inspiration for thousands and thousands. He additionally grew to become the second Indian astronaut to journey to area after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 odyssey.
Ax-4 was launched on June 25, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Advanced 39A at NASA’s Kennedy House Centre in Florida, in keeping with ANI. The Dragon spacecraft efficiently docked with the ISS on June 26 at 4:05 pm (IST), forward of schedule, connecting to the space-facing port of the station’s Concord module.
As per a press release of Axiom House, after roughly 433 hours, 18 days, and 288 orbits round Earth, overlaying practically 7.6 million miles since docking with the Worldwide House Station, the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew is formally homeward certain. Moreover, the 14-day mission was prolonged to 18 days, and Shukla boarded SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, named ‘Grace’, at 03:30 am CT (2 pm IST).
The most recent key updates from the Axiom-4 Mission are:
-SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, together with the crew, efficiently undocked from the ISS on Monday.
-Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and the crew are anticipated to splash down tomorrow (Tuesday).
-Axiom 4 aboard the SpaceX Dragon undocked from the station’s Concord module at 7:15 am ET on Monday, finishing a two-and-a-half-week area analysis mission.
-Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu undocked from the orbiting laboratory on Monday at 6:15 a.m. CT, marking the conclusion of their onboard mission.
-The spacecraft may also execute a sequence of departure burns to maneuver away from the ISS.
Shubhanshu Shukla’s Farewell Speech
Shubhanshu Shukla, in his farewell speech for the Axiom-4 mission, quoted the enduring phrases of Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, the primary Indian in area, and mentioned, “Aaj ka Bharat abhi bhi saare jahaan se acha dikhta hai” (As we speak’s India remains to be extra splendid than all the world).”
As per NASA, the Dragon spacecraft will return to Earth with greater than 580 kilos of cargo, together with NASA {hardware} and knowledge from over 60 experiments performed through the mission.
Ax-4: Experiments, Rehabilitation
On the orbital publish, Shukla carried out seven India-specific experiments, taking a serious step in advancing India’s Gaganyaan human area flight mission.
After touchdown, the crew members will bear a rehabilitation programme for about seven days beneath the supervision of the Flight Surgeons to adapt again to Earth’s gravity.
(with companies’ inputs)