Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla Safely Departs ISS After Completing 20-Day Historic Ax-4 Mission

New Delhi (India) July 15: On July 14, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla completed his mission on the orbiting laboratory by leaving from the International Space Station (ISS).

Shukla Begins Journey Home

The much-anticipated departure comes after a number of hard preparations to guarantee a safe and orderly return to Earth on Tuesday. It is planned that the Ax-4 mission would splash down on Earth at 3:00 pm IST.

The ISRO astronaut would have to go through a seven-day rehabilitation treatment. This is done for him to become used to the gravity of Earth after his return.

ISRO said, "Post splashdown, the Gaganyatri will undergo a rehabilitation program (about 7 days) under supervision of Flight Surgeon to adapt back to Earth's gravity," in an official statement.

The procedure of undocking from the ISS is complex and multi-phase. It started almost a day ago when Shukla and the rest of the team put on their pressure suits and made last-minute inspections. After that, the spacecraft-ISS hatch was shut and closed, and leaks were checked to make sure everything was airtight.

After that, the undock sequence was sent, initiating the physical separation and the return trip. The power and data umbilical cables that supplied communication and electricity throughout the stay were disconnected.

It is expected that at 3 pm IST, Shubhanshu Shukla, commander Peggy Whitson and mission experts Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski and Tibor Kapu of Poland and Hungary would splash down off the coast of San Diego.

Mission Milestones

Shubhanshu Shukla is the second Indian in space. He has safely undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) after an incredible Axiom-4 mission. He sets out on his 22.5-hour journey home.

Shukla travelled an incredible 1.3 crore km in more than 310 orbits during his 20 days on the ISS. The scale of his space journey is highlighted by the fact that this distance is equal to travelling 33 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.

The crew saw more than 300 sunrises and sunsets during these 20 days. It highlights the constant motion and dynamic environment of low Earth orbit. 

According to ISRO, “Experiments on Indian strain of tardigrades, myogenesis, sprouting of methi & moong seeds, cyanobacteria, microalgae, crop seeds and voyager display have been completed as planned.”

Shukla’s farewell message said, “41 years ago, an Indian came to space and he told us how India looks from up above. Today’s India looks ambitious from space, today’s India looks fearless, today’s India looks confident, today’s India looks full of pride… today’s India still looks ‘saare jahan se acha.” 

Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to travel to space in forty years after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma. He is also the first Indian to visit and work in the International Space Station.

Aadrika Tayal