'Even today India is better than the rest of the world', said Shubhanshu Shukla in Axiom-4 farewell speech, gave a special message to the world.

Posted on 14th Jul 2025 by rohit kumar

More than 140 crore Indians are eager to welcome astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, who made India proud by hoisting the Indian flag for the first time on the ISS.

 

After staying on the International Space Station (ISS) for 18 days and conducting many scientific experiments, Gaganyaat Shubhanshu will land on the California coast in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday with his three fellow astronauts of the Axiom-4 mission.

 

The Union Minister gave information.

 

Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh posted on X, return to Earth, splashdown is scheduled for 3 pm Indian time on July 15. ISRO said that, after coming to Earth, Shubhanshu will have to undergo a rehabilitation program (about seven days) under the supervision of a flight surgeon so that he can adapt to the gravity of the Earth. The landing of a spacecraft in water is called splashdown.

 

Will fly from ISS to Earth on July 14

Shubhanshu will fly from ISS to Earth on July 14 along with his three fellow astronauts. Shubhanshu and other astronauts of the Axiom-4 mission - Mission Commander American astronaut Peggy Whitson, Poland's Slavosz Ujnanski-Wisniewski, Hungary's Tibor Kapu are preparing for undocking.

 

SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to separate from the ISS on Monday at around 4:35 pm Indian time. Splashdown is expected near the coast of California in the Pacific Ocean several hours after undocking. Shubhanshu and three other astronauts reached the ISS on June 26 under the Axiom-4 mission. These astronauts who went to the ISS have conducted many experiments.

 

This is how the return will be

 

Shubhanshu and three other astronauts will board the spacecraft at 2.25 pm Indian time before undocking (separation of the spacecraft from the ISS), wear space suits and conduct necessary tests before starting the journey to Earth.

 

The ISS is orbiting the Earth at a speed of 28 thousand km per hour in an orbit about 400 km above the Earth. The Dragon spacecraft will automatically begin the process of separating from the ISS to gradually slow down and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere for a water landing (splashdown) in California.

 

The Dragon spacecraft will return with more than 580 pounds of luggage, which will include NASA hardware and data from more than 60 experiments conducted during the entire mission.

 

Ambitious, fearless India is visible from space: Shubhanshu.

 

Shubhanshu said that India looks full of ambition, fearless, confident and proud from space. At the farewell ceremony held for the crew of Axiom-4 mission on the ISS on Sunday, Shubhanshu, repeating the famous words of India's first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, said, even today, India looks 'saare jahaan se achcha' from above. Rakesh Sharma had said during his space journey in 1984, Bharat looks saare jahaan se achcha.

 

Shubhhanshu said that he is taking a lot of memories and learnings with him, which he will share with his countrymen. Currently there are 11 astronauts on the ISS, out of which seven are from Expedition 73 and four are from the Axiom mission.

 

Shubhhanshu's journey was historic.

The journey was historic for Shubhanshu This journey to the ISS has been historic for Shubhanshu. Shubhanshu became the first Indian to travel to the ISS. He is the second Indian to go to space. Rakesh Sharma went to the space station Salyut 7 in 1984 from the Soviet Union's Soyuz spacecraft. Rakesh Sharma is India's first astronaut.

 

So far, Shubhanshu has spent 18 days in space. He has seen 16 sunrises and sunsets every day. Shubhanshu conducted seven experiments related to India on the ISS, which was a big step in advancing India's Gaganyaan human space flight mission. These included research on muscle damage in space, developing a brain-computer interface, and experiments on sprouting moong and fenugreek seeds in space.

 

On the last day of his stay on the ISS, eye movement and coordination were tested under the Voyager Display Test. Other experiments were conducted for the same.