Shubhanshu Shukla to return soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Preparations for the return journey of Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will begin after his two-week survival at the space station ends on Thursday. The time and itinerary have not been released by Axiom Company and NASA. It is expected to take into account the conditions including weather. Shubhanshu reached the space station on June 26 in the Dragon spacecraft attached to the Falcon-9 rocket. The Dragon spacecraft, which is docked at the ISS, will be undocked and the return journey will be in it. It will land in the sea.

Shubhanshu interacted with ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan and VSSC Director Dr. S. Unnikrishnan Nair on Sunday. Dr. Narayanan inquired about Shubhanshu's well-being. The Chairman reminded him of the importance of meticulously recording the experimental data and other activities at the station. Shubhanshu shared the progress of the experiments and the challenges faced. He said that working with the space station residents was a great experience.

The space experiments of the Axiom 4 team are progressing. Shubhanshu also informed that the tardigrade experiment has been completed in experiments such as algae growth in low gravity and space survival of tardigrades. This will be crucial for the Gaganyaan mission.

ISRO informed that Shubhanshu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving him the opportunity to represent India at the International Space Station. Liquid Propulsion System Centre Director M. Mohanan, Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) Director I. S. Padmakumar and former LPSC Director N. Vedachalam also participated in the discussion.

New Record, Thursday 14th day

Last Thursday, Shubhamshu Shukla became the Indian to spend the most time in space. He surpassed Rakesh Sharma's record of 7 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes. Shubhamshu, who entered the space capsule on June 26, will complete 14 days on Thursday.

The Axiom 4 mission team completed 113 orbits around the Earth between July 3. It traveled 46.6 lakh kilometers. This distance is 12 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Shubhamshu over Kerala today; station can be seen

The International Space Station, with Shubhamshu Shukla, will pass over Kerala twice today. It will reach the northwest at 5.51 am on Wednesday and set in the southeast at 5.57 am. At 7.07 pm, it will return from the west and disappear in the northeast. One can see the station on careful observation.