New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) India is eagerly waiting for Shubhanshu Shukla’s safe return, said Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh on Monday.

He said this as Shukla embarked on his journey to Earth, along with his fellow astronauts, after spending 18 days on the International Space Station (ISS).

“Welcome back Shubhanshu! The entire nation eagerly awaits your arrival back home…as you begin your return journey, after successful undocking of #Axiom4,” Singh said in a post on social media platform X.

On June 26, Shukla became the first Indian to reach the orbital lab. He also became the second Indian astronaut to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 Odyssey.

The 14-day mission was extended to 18, and Shukla boarded SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, named ‘Grace’ at 03:30 am CT (2 pm IST).

The hatch closed between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station “at 5:07 a.m. EDT,” NASA said in a blog post.

Shukla along with fellow astronauts Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) undocked from the ISS’s Harmony module at about 7:15 a.m. ET (4:45 pm IST).

“Dragon is GO to undock from the Space_Station,” SpaceX said in a post on X.

Shukla is expected to reach Earth after a 22.5-hour journey on Tuesday.

“The crew is expected to splash down off the coast of California at approximately 4:31 am CT (3:01 pm IST, Tuesday),” Axiom Space said.

His family, filled with joy and pride, is also anxiously awaiting his safe landing.

“We’re feeling superbly excited and nervous, just like it felt on the first day of his lift-off. There’s a sense of nervousness because this is such a crucial stage, it’s the final one. Once he splashes down safely, only then will we feel relieved and relaxed,” Shukla’s sister Shuchi Mishra told IANS.

Residents of Varanasi were also seen performing a special ‘yagya-havan’ for the safe return of Group Captain Shukla.

The ceremony, marked by devotion and patriotic pride, saw priests chanting Vedic mantras as flames of the sacred fire rose towards the sky –mirroring the celestial heights from which Shukla is now returning.

After landing, Shukla, along with other crew members, will undergo a rehabilitation programme (about seven days) under the supervision of the Flight Surgeons to adapt back to Earth’s gravity.

–IANS

rvt/