Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended a welcome to Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla on his return to Earth from his landmark mission aboard the International Space Station. He remarked that as India’s first astronaut to have journeyed to the ISS, Group Captain Shukla’s achievement marks a defining moment in the nation’s space exploration journey.
In a post on X, he wrote: “I join the nation in welcoming Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as he returns to Earth from his historic mission to Space. As India’s first astronaut to have visited International Space Station, he has inspired a billion dreams through his dedication, courage and pioneering spirit. It marks another milestone towards our own Human Space Flight Mission - Gaganyaan.”
Dragon spacecraft landed on the coast of California
Four astronauts including Shubhanshu Shukla have returned to Earth after staying in the space station for 18 days. After a journey of about 23 hours, the Dragon spacecraft landed on the coast of California today i.e. on July 15 at 3 pm. This is called splashdown. The four astronauts left for Earth from the International Space Station a day earlier at 4:45 pm.
All the astronauts reached the ISS on June 26 at 4:01 pm Indian time. They left on June 25 at around 12 noon under Axium Mission 4. They took off from the Kennedy Space Center in a Dragon capsule attached to SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket.On Shubhanshu's return, Prime Minister Modi said - I along with the whole country welcome Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to return to Earth from his historic space journey.
Shubhanshu has inspired billions of dreams with his dedication, courage. This is another milestone in the direction of our own human space flight mission - Gaganyaan.
Prakash Kumar Pandey