E-Paper
'My son has safely returned': Shubhanshu Shukla's parents' first reaction after Axiom-4 splashes down on Earth
"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth," SpaceX posted after the four astronauts part of the Axiom-4 mission returned to Earth.
The Dragon spacecraft carrying the Axiom-4 crew, including Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, successfully splashed down on Tuesday.
Following the splashdown off the California coast, recovery teams conducted post-landing safety and medical checks.
"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth," SpaceX posted after the four astronauts part of the Axiom-4 mission returned to Earth.
After the crew's successful return, Shukla's parents were seen getting emotional as visuals showed them clapping alongside others after witnessing the splashdown of the Dragon spacecraft.
Shukla's mother Asha Shukla, in her first remarks after the IAF group captain's return, said that she got emotional. “My son has safely returned…I got emotional, after all, my son has returned after many days,” she said. “I thank god, you all who have covered the event,” she told reporters.
Earlier today, the Indian astronaut's father Shambhu Dayal Shukla told ANI, “The splashdown would be noted down in history.”
While expressing his excitement about his son's return, he said that his family was awaiting his safe landing. “He had made us so proud,” Shukla's father said.
He further added that Shukla “belongs to the whole nation”.
Shukla's mother also expressed her pride, saying that her “son wrote his name in history”. “We took Hanumanji's darshan and we also did a Sundarkand recitation. We will give him a grand welcome," she said.
Shukla, along with three members of the Axiom-4 mission, spent almost 20 days in space and almost 19 days aboard the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft had undocked from the space-facing port of the Harmony module in ISS on Monday.
The crew members included mission commander and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, and mission specialists Slawosz "Suave" Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) astronaut Tibor Kapu. Shukla was the mission pilot on Axiom-4.
