Countdown to Earth: Shubhanshu Shukla to return from ISS on Tuesday; mother prepares 'grand welcome'

NEW DELHI: It’s been more than 15 days since Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station, left Earth for his mission aboard Axiom-4. His mother, like all mothers, is counting the hours until her child returns home.If all goes as planned, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will fly back to Earth on Tuesday. The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the ISS on Monday and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast the next day. Speaking to ANI from Lucknow, his mother, Asha Shukla, who grew emotional at the time of lift-off as she watched the historic moment unfold, said the family was preparing to welcome him home.

“We pray to God that he completes his mission successfully and comes back to earth as soon as possible and meets us… We will give him a grand welcome,” she said. His father, Shambhu Dayal Shukla, said, “Tomorrow, July 14, the undocking will take place at around 4.30 pm, and on July 15, he will return to Earth. We were waiting for this, so we are happy that he is coming back. We pray to God that he comes back safely.”Prayers and preparationsEarlier, Asha had said the thought of having him back at home brought relief and happiness.

"He showed us the view of Earth from space. Seeing him smiling and healthy meant a lot to us. We are just waiting for him to be back safely so that he can relax and eat at home with us," she added. Asked what preparations were being done for his welcome, Shubhanshu's mother, Asha, said, "I will cook whatever he wants. He told us that this time, after coming back, he wants to eat everything he hasn't had in the past five-six years due to being abroad.

He said he wants to enjoy all his favourite home-cooked food."Shubhanshu had said he would miss home food during the mission, so he packed a few Indian sweets for the journey. Speaking at a press conference before the launch, he shared, “There will be plenty of food to eat in space, but I will be carrying mango nectar, carrot halwa, and moong dal halwa with me.”How Ax-4 crew will return Shukla, an Indian Air Force officer, part of the Axiom Mission 4 crew, will return with Commander Peggy Whitson, ESA astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu. Their return journey will take around 22 hours. The crew is expected to splash down at approximately 3 pm IST on Tuesday. A farewell ceremony with Nasa’s Expedition 73 crew is scheduled at 7:25 pm IST on 14 July.According to Axiom Space, the mission will return with over 580 pounds of cargo, including equipment and research samples from more than 60 experiments. During their 18-day stay aboard the ISS, the Ax-4 team carried out several scientific studies and outreach activities. These included tests related to human health, space agriculture, mental well-being, and space suit materials. Group Captain Shukla worked on a project to test glucose monitors in microgravity—part of a broader effort to understand how spaceflight could be made safer and more inclusive.Axiom Mission 4 was launched on 25 June from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS on 26 June.