Axiom 4 mission: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla 'Shux' returns to Earth as Grace splashes down in Pacific
Shubhanshu Shukla
and crew, aboard
Dragon Grace
spacecraft, splashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California on Tuesday, completing a 22.5-hour journey from the International Space Station.
Ax-4 crew began their journey back to Earth aboard the
SpaceX
spacecraft at 4:45 PM IST on Monday as it undocked from the ISS after a 10-minute delay from the original plan. The vessel moved away from the orbital laboratory after firing two thrusters.
Under the
Axiom 4 mission
, the four astronauts including Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, commander
Peggy Whitson
, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, spent approximately 433 hours or 18 days and 288 orbits around Earth, covering nearly 7.6 million miles. Their time in space began on June 26 after docking with ISS.
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During his farewell ceremony at ISS with Expedition 73 astronauts, Shukla said, "Jaldi hi dharti pe mulaqat karte hai (we will meet on Earth soon)."
Describing how India looks from space, the Indian astronaut said, "We all are still curious to know how India looks today from above. Aaj ka Bharat mahatvakanshi dikhta hai. Aaj ka Bharat nidar dikhta hai, Aaj ka Bharat confident dikhta hai. Aaj ka Bharat garv se purn dikhta hai. (Today's India looks full of ambition, fearless, confident and full of pride)."
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Shukla recalled the words of Rakesh Sharma who travelled to space 41 years ago, saying, "It is because of all these reasons, I can say it once again that today's India still looks 'saare jahan se accha'."
"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.
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