Another historic moment is about to come in India’s space mission. Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, who spent 18 days on the International Space Station (ISS), is now ready to return to Earth. His return under the Axiom-4 mission will begin this evening. This mission also marks a return to space for Hungary and Poland, including India, as these countries have again participated in space after four decades. Shubhanshu Shukla and his team boarded the Dragon spacecraft at around 2 pm. Undocking from the space station will take place at 4:35 pm IST.
No manual intervention required
After this, the spacecraft will splash down in the sea near the coast of California at 3:01 pm IST on Tuesday after a journey of 22.5 hours. This entire process will be automatic and will not require any manual intervention. After separating from the ISS, the Dragon spacecraft will burn some engines so that it can take itself to a safe distance from the station. After this it will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. During this time its temperature can reach 1,600 degrees Celsius. Parachutes will open in two stages, first the stabilizing chutes at an altitude of 5.7 km and then the main parachute at about two km, which will make the safe landing of the spacecraft possible. On Sunday, the astronauts of the Expedition-73 mission organized a farewell ceremony for the Axiom-4 mission team at the RASS.
See you soon on Earth
On this occasion, Shubhanshu Shukla said that see you soon on Earth. He also said that he had not imagined that he would experience so much at the beginning of this journey. This journey was unforgettable for him. Talking about the picture of India from space, Shukla said that after the India that Rakesh Sharma saw in the year 1984, now we are seeing that today’s India looks ambitious, fearless, self-confident and full of pride. This is the reason why I can still say ‘Saare Jahan Se Achcha Hai Hamara Bharat’.
Rs 550 crore spent
His statement also reflects India’s changing space power. ISRO has spent about ₹550 crore for this mission. This mission is considered a milestone for ISRO’s human space flight program ‘Gaganyaan’, which is to be launched in 2027. Shukla’s experience will prove to be very useful in preparing for that mission.