Shukla sets off on return journey to earth

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others of the commercial Axiom-4 mission on Monday embarked on a journey back to Earth as their Dragon Grace spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station – their home for the last 18 days.
The Dragon spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 4:45 PM IST, a 10-minute delay from the original plan, and fired thrusters twice to move away from the orbital laboratory. After executing the departure burns and exiting the safe zone around the space station, the astronauts doffed their space suits for a comfortable 22.5-hour ride back to Earth. The astronauts will wear the space suits once again before the Dragon Grace spacecraft begins the de-orbit procedures for a splashdown off the California coast at 3:01 PM IST on Tuesday. After hugs and handshakes, the four astronauts entered the Dragon spacecraft about two hours prior to undocking, donned their spacesuits and closed the hatch connecting the spacecraft to the ISS at 2:37 PM IST. “Jaldi hi dharti pe mulaqat karte hai (we will meet on Earth soon),” Shukla, who became the second Indian astronaut to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 odyssey, said at the farewell ceremony onboard the ISS on Sunday. The four astronauts are expected to spend seven days in rehabilitation as they adjust back to life on Earth under the influence of gravity, unlike the weightlessness experienced in orbit.