India looks full of ambition, fearless, confident and full of pride from space, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla said on Sunday. “Even today, Bharat looks ‘saare jahan se accha’ from above,” Shukla said reprising the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
Calling his journey “incredible” and almost “magical”, Shukla said he is taking with him a lot of memories and learning that he will share with his countrymen.
Shukla was speaking at a farewell ceremony for Axiom-4 mission astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) who are set to begin their return journey to Earth on Monday. His stay at the ISS began on June 26.
The Axiom-4 mission undocks from the ISS on Monday and is expected to splash down off the California coast on Tuesday.
After 18 days of intense science experiments at the ISS, it is time for farewells and feasts for Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts of the Axiom-4 mission who are set to begin their return journey to Earth on Monday, news agency PTI reported. The Axiom 4 (Ax-4) crew—Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu “Shux” Shukla, and Mission Specialists Slawosz “Suave” Uznanski-Wisniewski and Tibor Kapu—are nearing the completion of their research and preparing to undock no earlier than at 7:05 am ET (4:35 pm IST) on Monday.
“Arrival back to earth…. splash down scheduled for 15th July at 3:00 PM IST,” Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said in a post on X.
India’s Shubhanshu Shukla to return from space aboard Axiom-4 mission
NEW DELHI, JUL 13 (AGENCIES)