First Indian astronaut to visit ISS returns to Earth (VIDEO)

Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS), has successfully re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down on Tuesday, SpaceX has said.

Following the splashdown of the Crew Dragon Grace spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California, boats were quickly deployed to recover the astronauts, and a ground team conducted medical checks to assess their condition. Shukla, a group captain of the Indian Air Force, was the pilot of a four-member Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew, which has begun the re-acclimatization process.

The return marked the conclusion of an 18-day research mission on the ISS. The crew spent over two weeks on the ISS, carrying out more than 60 scientific experiments in areas such as agriculture, medicine, water systems, and human physiology in microgravity. After undocking from the ISS on Monday, the spacecraft took about 22.5 hours to complete its journey back to Earth. 

“As India’s first astronaut to have visited International Space Station, he (Shukla) has inspired a billion dreams through his dedication, courage and pioneering spirit. It marks another milestone towards our own Human Space Flight Mission – Gaganyaan,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X. The South Asian nation’s human space flight mission is scheduled for 2027. 

Shukla became the first Indian to travel to space since Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s spaceflight aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.

After being chosen by the Indian Department of Space as the prime astronaut for Ax-4, Shukla underwent an extensive training program with three other astronaut designates at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow in 2020. Ax-4 followed a similar re-entry pattern to that of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who returned in March aboard the SpaceX capsule Freedom, landing in the Atlantic Ocean.