Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and his crew members, set for a splashdown to Earth on Tuesday, July 15, after spending almost 20 days in space, will not just come back but also bring along some crucial data and cargo in the Dragon spacecraft.
The Axiom Mission 4 crew said goodbye to the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday and is nearing completion of its journey to Earth. Ahead of the capsule's return, NASA shared what the astronauts will bring along.
Follow live updates on Shubhanshu Shukla's return
Over 580 pounds of cargo, which contains NASA hardware and data from over 60 experiments conducted throughout the mission, will be brought to Earth by the astronauts.
The spacecraft is expected to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California around 3:01 pm IST, and a live coverage will begin at 2 pm.
After being postponed several times, the Axiom-4 mission carrying Shubhanshu Shukla successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the ISS on June 25.
The private astronaut mission was a significant milestone for India, Poland, and Hungary. Shubhanshu Shukla from ISRO as was the mission’s pilot, commanded by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and current Director of Human Spaceflight at Axiom Space.
{{/usCountry}}The private astronaut mission was a significant milestone for India, Poland, and Hungary. Shubhanshu Shukla from ISRO as was the mission’s pilot, commanded by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and current Director of Human Spaceflight at Axiom Space.
{{/usCountry}}Besides, two other crew members served as mission specialists -- Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a project astronaut from Poland, and Tibor Kapu, a Hungarian astronaut.
The Axiom mission-4 aimed to carry out 60 scientific experiments and activities, representing 31 countries worldwide. Data from this research will be one of the important things the astronauts bring back to the Earth today.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked at 4:45 pm IST on Monday from the space-facing port of the ISS Harmony module, and is set to return to Earth in the afternoon.
While the expected time of arrival is 3:01 pm, Dr Jitendra Singh, Union minister of science and technology, had said that “these timings have a margin window of approximately 1 hour".