Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla (Shux), who, along with three other Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew members undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 4.45pm Monday, will return to Earth around 3pm Tuesday (July 15).
“Ax-4 crew are on track to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego… Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean,” SpaceX said Tuesday.
Ground teams are continuously monitoring Grace — the Dragon capsule Shukla and other astronauts are travelling in — and will give multiple “go”, “no-go” commands until the de-orbit burn, scheduled for around 2.07pm on Tuesday (July 15).
Among other things, the teams will check for weather conditions to ensure that both the crew and the recovery teams are able to operate safely at the recovery site, off the coast of California.
“Key weather parametres that teams will watch out for will be that there’s no rain or lightning at the recovery site. They would also look at the wind speed, which should not be more than 10 miles per hour,” an Axiom representative had said Monday.
About 50 minutes after the de-orbit burn, Grace will deploy the drogue parachutes, a minute before deploying the main parachutes. As per current plan, Grace is expected to splashdown.
Upon splashdown, recovery teams will reach the capsule, perform safety checks, and prepare it for lifting onto the ship using a hydraulic cradle. Once this is complete, the first medical checks are completed, following which the crew is transported back to land on a helicopter and taken for further medical evaluations, mission debriefs, and recovery procedures.
During their time at the ISS, the Ax-4 crew performed more than 60 experiments from 31 countries, including India, US, Poland, Hungary, UAE, among others. Seven of these were led by Isro.
US astronaut Nichole Ayers, part of the Expedition 73 crew currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), posted photographs of her giving the Axiom-4 crew members, including Shubhanshu Shukla, haircuts at the orbital lab.
In her post on X, she said: “We said goodbye to our Ax4 friends today [July 14]. I was just reminiscing on the haircuts from last weekend! After a long quarantine, I think it was nice for them. We joked about how I might have a future in the haircutting business when I get back on Earth, but the reviews are still out.”
“Ax-4 crew are on track to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego… Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean,” SpaceX said Tuesday.
Ground teams are continuously monitoring Grace — the Dragon capsule Shukla and other astronauts are travelling in — and will give multiple “go”, “no-go” commands until the de-orbit burn, scheduled for around 2.07pm on Tuesday (July 15).
Among other things, the teams will check for weather conditions to ensure that both the crew and the recovery teams are able to operate safely at the recovery site, off the coast of California.
“Key weather parametres that teams will watch out for will be that there’s no rain or lightning at the recovery site. They would also look at the wind speed, which should not be more than 10 miles per hour,” an Axiom representative had said Monday.
About 50 minutes after the de-orbit burn, Grace will deploy the drogue parachutes, a minute before deploying the main parachutes. As per current plan, Grace is expected to splashdown.
Upon splashdown, recovery teams will reach the capsule, perform safety checks, and prepare it for lifting onto the ship using a hydraulic cradle. Once this is complete, the first medical checks are completed, following which the crew is transported back to land on a helicopter and taken for further medical evaluations, mission debriefs, and recovery procedures.
During their time at the ISS, the Ax-4 crew performed more than 60 experiments from 31 countries, including India, US, Poland, Hungary, UAE, among others. Seven of these were led by Isro.
US astronaut Nichole Ayers, part of the Expedition 73 crew currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), posted photographs of her giving the Axiom-4 crew members, including Shubhanshu Shukla, haircuts at the orbital lab.
In her post on X, she said: “We said goodbye to our Ax4 friends today [July 14]. I was just reminiscing on the haircuts from last weekend! After a long quarantine, I think it was nice for them. We joked about how I might have a future in the haircutting business when I get back on Earth, but the reviews are still out.”
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