Shubhanshu Shukla’s parents anxiously await his return: 'Proud and happy’
The Axiom Space Ax-4 crew will return to Earth off San Diego today. Shukla's family acknowledge his historic achievement as India's first astronaut at the ISS.
As NASA's Dragon spacecraft nears its descent on the Earth's surface on Tuesday afternoon (India time), group captain Shubanshu Shukla's parents expressed happiness and excitement on their beloved son's return.
“The splashdown would be noted down in history,” Shubanshu Shukla's father, Shambhu Dayal, Shukla told ANI.
“We are very excited that our son is returning from the mission and landing on Earth. He had made us so proud. We are waiting for his safe landing,” he added.
He further said it is a day of joy for the entire India and thanked the country for praying for his son. “He is our son, but he belongs to the entire nation,” Shukla's father said.
The group captain's mother, Asha Shukla, also expressed immense pride over his son's landmark achievement. “Proud that our son wrote his name in history,” she said.
“When we saw the undocking, we knew he was on his way now. He will reach by evening,” Asha Shukla told ANI.
Looking forward to her son's return, she also visited the temple. “We took Hanumanji's darshan and we also did a Sundarkand recitation. We will give him a grand welcome,” she added.
How many days did Shukla spend in space?
On board the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax‑4)'s Dragon spacecraft, group captain Shubhanshu Shukla left for International Space Station (ISS), from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 26.
After spending almost 20 days in space and almost 19 days aboard the ISS, the spacecraft completed close to 230 orbits around the Earth and travelledover six million miles in space.
Shukla marked history by becoming the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS.
The Dragon spacecraft will return along with more than 580 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from over 60 experiments conducted during the mission.
When is the Dragon spacecraft expected to splash down?
The spacecraft is set for a splashdown on Earth off the coast of San Diego, California, today, at around 3pm IST.
According to a post on X by SpaceX, the crew are on track to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, with their arrival to be announced with a "brief sonic boom" ahead of their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
"Dragon and the Axiom Space Ax-4 crew are on track to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego at ~2:31 a.m. PT tomorrow. Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean," SpaceX wrote on X.
How long will the crew take to come back?
The Dragon spacecraft's journey back home from ISS, is expected to take an approximate duration of 22.5 hours.
Earlier, on July 14, Monday, the Ax-4 successfully undocked and marked their way back to Earth, as observed by Axiom Space and NASA.
