How Shubhanshu Shuklas Family Celebrated His Return From Space
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the second Indian to travel to space and the first one to step inside the International Space Station (ISS), safely returned to Earth after spending an 18-day mission. The SpaceX Dragon spaceship that had Shukla and three astronauts from other countries aboard splashed down off the coast of San Diego on Tuesday, bringing the Axiom-4 mission to a safe end.
The moment the capsule touched down and the astronauts started to disembark was very emotional, particularly for Shukla's family. His mother, Asha Shukla, wept as she saw her son exit from the Dragon capsule and onto the recovery ship.
"My son has come back safely, thank god, all of you who have reported the incident. I got emotional, after all, my son has come back after so many days," she declared, clearly overwhelmed.
Marking the occasion of his return, the family cut a cake and was beaming with pride and thankfulness. Asha motivated young Indians to draw inspiration from her son's ordeal.
"Excitement is limitless, and we are so proud. We were scared initially. The next generation must draw inspiration and move forward, too," she said.
Shukla's father, Shambu Dayal Shukla, shared the feeling as well. "We felt great that Shubhanshu's mission was successful and that he had a safe landing. We are extremely proud of him. I thank God for this," he expressed with happiness.
Shukla is from a middle-class Lucknow family and had no direct relations to aviation or space science during his growing-up years. A childhood outing to an air show ignited a dream that would eventually take flight. Commissioned in the Indian Air Force in 2006, he has flown more than 2,000 hours on top machines like the Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Jaguar, and Dornier-228.
His maiden space flight was as part of the Axiom-4 mission—a joint venture involving SpaceX, ISRO, NASA, and Axiom Space. Besides Misra, the mission involved veteran American astronaut Commander Peggy Whitson, Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu. The four astronauts performed over 60 experiments on the ISS and flew back with 580 pounds of scientific payload.
The mission, priced at an estimated $70 million for India, is being viewed as a major leap forward in Indian human spaceflight plans, including ISRO's Gaganyaan mission shortly.
As Group Captain Shukla recuperates from the mission in post-mission rehabilitation, his story continues to enthuse millions of Indians, showing how dreams, when combined with grit, can reach for the stars.
