'Shux' back to Earth: Shubhanshu Shukla exits Dragon aircraft with smile; watch video

The Dragon spacecraft named Grace, piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, returned to Earth on Wednesday after completing an 18-day mission aboard the

International Space Station

(ISS). The spacecraft splashed down safely, and Shukla, smiling and waving to the camera, stepped out shortly after. He had served as pilot for the mission.Soon after the splashdown, recovery personnel from SpaceX and Axiom Space began their work. By 3.37 pm, the Dragon capsule was moved from its landing point on the recovery vessel Shannon to a deck area where the crew was to be helped out of the spacecraft.

Between 3.40 pm and 3.41 pm IST, the recovery team opened the side hatch and prepared for crew egress. At 3.49 pm, mission commander

Peggy Whitson

exited first. Shukla, referred to as ‘Shux’ by the mission team, followed at 3.52 pm. Mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski and Tibor Kapu came out shortly after.

Before the splashdown, the spacecraft began its de-orbit burn at 2.07 pm. The burn lasted for 18 minutes. By 2.27 pm, the trunk containing solar panels and radiators was jettisoned. The nose cone was closed by 2.33 pm.At around 2.59 pm, Grace deployed its drogue parachutes. A minute later, four main parachutes were also deployed. The parachutes slowed down the spacecraft’s speed during the final descent, leading to the splashdown.Grace had undocked from the ISS at 4.45 pm on Monday. The capsule carried over 580 kilograms of cargo, including more than 60 experiments, during its 22.5-hour return to Earth.