‘Tell them you love them’: Shubhanshu Shukla’s heartwarming note as he reunites with family after historic ISS mission

“Space flight is amazing, but seeing your loved ones after a long time is equally amazing,” Shukla wrote.

He then said that while he was in strict quarantine for 2 months before the mission, the family visits required being 8 meters apart because of distancing measures, which forced everyone to tell his four-year old that he had germs on hands in order to prevent physical contact.

“It has been 2 months since I entered quarantine. During the quarantine family visits we had to be 8 m apart. My little one had to be told that he had germs on his hands and that is why he could not touch his father. Every time he would come for the visit he would ask his mom “Can I wash my hands?” It was challenging,” he said.

The Indian astronaut then said that coming back to Earth and hugging his family felt like “home”.

“Coming back to Earth and holding my family back in my arms felt like home. Find a loved one today and tell them that you love them. We often get busy in life and forget how important the people in our lives are,” the post read.

The world welcomed the return of the Axiom-4 crew to Earth, after the successful completion of their 18-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

After spending 18 days on the ISS, Shukla and his colleagues on the Axiom-4 mission began their 22-hour return journey to Earth on Monday afternoon.

The spacecraft took about 20 hours to reach Earth. On its way, it made another few rounds of the Earth, giving the astronauts some more opportunities to view it from space. During their 18-day stay on the ISS, the astronauts completed 288 revolutions of the Earth.