Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to journey to the International Space Station, is set to return to Earth on July 14 as part of the Ax-4 mission. The crew, including Commander Peggy Whitson, will undock from the ISS at approximately 4:35 PM IST. Splashdown is projected for July 15 at about 3 PM IST in the Pacific Ocean. The Dragon spacecraft will carry them back during a 22-hour journey, concluding an 18-day mission. The Ax-4 team also includes Slawosz ‘Suave’ Uznanski-Wisniewski, representing ESA, and Tibor Kapu, a HUNOR astronaut. Their time on the ISS was filled with scientific research and outreach programs. A farewell ceremony will be held with NASA’s Expedition 73 crew. The spacecraft will bring back over 580 pounds of cargo, including scientific data and equipment from over 60 experiments. On ‘flight day 18’, experiments included Kapu’s work on Fruit Fly DNA Repair and the VITAPRIC project. Group Captain Shukla and his team worked with Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) to test their functionality in microgravity. Additional research covered areas like Voyager Displays, ENPERCHAR, Neuromotion VR, and Suit Fabric Study, in addition to the AstroMentalHealth and EEG Neurofeedback projects. The Ax-4 mission was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on June 25 and docked with the ISS on June 26.
