AX-4 astronauts, including Shubhanshu Shukla, embark on return journey
The Axiom-4 astronauts—Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Tibor Kapu—are on their way back to Earth after about 20 days aboard the International Space Station.
They closed the hatch and undocked in their SpaceX Dragon Grace on Monday, kicking off a journey that's all about precision and patience.
Dragon handles everything, including re-entry
Their trip home takes about 22.5 hours as the Dragon spacecraft handles engine burns and re-entry by itself.
It'll face blazing temperatures up to 1,600°C before parachutes slow it down for splashdown off California's coast around 3:00pm IST Tuesday.
Mission with global attention
Axiom-4 marked a first: astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary visited the ISS together.
The mission got global attention with live coverage from NASA and Axiom Space—showing just how much international teamwork is shaping the future of space exploration.