Sets tone for India’s human spaceflight
With waves and smiles, Shubhanshu Shukla returned to Earth on Tuesday after an 18-day stay on the International Space Station, a feat that holds the promise to herald India’s own human spaceflight ambitions.
The Lucknow-born Shukla and three other astronauts of the private Axiom-4 mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the San Diego coast in California in the pre-dawn darkness at 2:31 am Pacific Time (3:01 pm IST) amid cheers from the citizens of India, literally on the other side of the world.
Shukla, a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, became the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 sojourn as part of a Soviet Russian mission.
He also scripted history by becoming the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station with the longest stint — 20 days — in orbit around the Earth.
Travelling at a speed of over 28,000 km per hour, the Dragon spacecraft, carrying the Axiom-4 crew members, executed a series of manoeuvres to gradually slow down and enter the Earth’s atmosphere, braving intense heat before a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Minutes later, the Dragon spacecraft was hauled up over SpaceX’s recovery ship ‘Shannon’, where Shukla and the other astronauts emerged from the spacecraft, smiling and waving at the cameras.
Shukla’s feat has inspired a billion dreams: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that Shubhanshu Shukla has inspired a billion dreams with his dedication, courage and pioneering spirit, as the astronaut returned to the Earth after an 18-day stay at the International Space Station.
Modi said on X, “I join the nation in welcoming Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as he returns to Earth from his historic mission to Space.”
He lauded Shukla’s feat, noting that he is the first Indian to have visited the International Space Station.
The prime minister said it marks another milestone towards India’s own human space flight mission – Gaganyaan.