Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is all set to return to Earth tomorrow on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is preparing to depart from the International Space Station (ISS). As part of the Axiom-4 mission, Shukla has safely entered the spacecraft, and the hatch has been closed. As he and the crew settled inside, the depressurisation process has begans, which typically takes around an hour to complete. Before undocking, the joint SpaceX and NASA teams will carry out a final 'go' or 'no-go' poll to determine if the Dragon spacecraft is ready to depart from the station. Following the poll, the teams will send an undock command to initiate the undocking sequence, which is scheduled for around 4:30 PM IST.
Once the command is issued, the umbilicals that provide data between the Dragon and the ISS will be released, and the Dragon will disengage the capture hook, which will take approximately four minutes. After that, the Dragon will fire its thrusters to begin the undocking process. According to Axiom Space, the crew is scheduled to undock from the ISS at 4:35 PM IST. Following undocking, the crew is expected to splash down off the coast of California approximately 22.5 hours later, around 4:31 AM CT (3:01 PM IST on Tuesday).
A statement from NASA indicated that the Dragon spacecraft will return with over 580 pounds of cargo, which includes NASA hardware and valuable data from more than 60 experiments conducted during the mission.
Special farewell ceremony
On Sunday, the astronauts from Expedition 73 held a special farewell ceremony for the crew of Axiom-4. This Axiom-4 mission crew included Shukla, commander Peggy Whitson, and two mission specialists, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. The Axiom-4 mission was particularly important because it marked the first time in over 40 years that India, Poland, and Hungary have sent astronauts into space.
During the farewell event aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Shukla shared his hopes for a speedy reunion with his fellow astronauts back on Earth. He also mentioned that when the crew returns, the spacecraft will operate automatically, meaning it will handle most of the descent back home without needing a lot of manual control.
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