Smiling 'Shux' Returns After Successful Space Odyssey

Shubhanshu Shukla inspired a billion dreams: PM Modi Dragon spacecraft lands in Pacific Ocean off the coast of California

- AGENCIES

With waves and smiles, Shubhanshu Shukla returned to Earth on Tuesday after an 18-day stay on the International Space Station, a feat that holds the promise to herald India's own human spaceflight ambitions.

The Lucknow-born Shukla and three other astronauts of the private Axiom-4 mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the San Diego coast in California in the pre-dawn darkness at 2:31 am Pacific Time (3:01 pm IST) amid cheers from the citizens of India, literally on the other side of the world.

Shukla, a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, became the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma's 1984 sojourn as part of a Soviet Russian mission.

He also scripted history by becoming the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station with the longest stint -- 20 days -- in orbit around the Earth.

For India, Hungary and Poland, this mission has realised the return to human spaceflight, with astronauts from these countries travelling to space for the first time in more than 40 years.

The Dragon Grace spacecraft lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked at the International Space Station on June 26 after a 28-hour journey.