PRINT A view of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft being lifted from water and placed onboard the recovery vessel Shannon after it splashed down successfully off the coast of San Diego on July 15, 2025. Photo: YouTube/ Axiom Space Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and his fellow crew members on the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) returned to Earth on Tuesday afternoon (July 15), as their SpaceX Dragon splashed down at 3:02 p.m. IST. They returned from an 18-day sojourn on the International Space Station that was a first step for India’s own ambitions for indigenous human spaceflight, with Mr. Shukla -- a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force -- selected as one of the Indian astronauts on the Gaganyaan Mission. The Dragon’s splashdown occurred off the coast of San Diego in the United States, 22-and-a-half hours after it departed from the ISS on July 14. Fifty minutes later, the astronauts made their way out of the Dragon, helped by the medical crew aboard the Space X recovery vessel, the Shannon. Rehab programme The first to come out of the Dragon was Ax-4 mission Commander Peggy Whitson of the United States, followed by Group Captain Shukla, who was the pilot for the mission, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary. Smiling and waving at the cameras, the astronauts were assisted by the team aboard the rescue ship as they went for routine medical checks after spending almost 20 days in microgravity conditions. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation, Group Captain Shukla will undergo a rehabilitation programme for about a week under the supervision of flight surgeons to help him adapt back to Earth’s gravity. Watch | Shubhanshu Shukla-piloted SpaceX Dragon returns to Earth after Axiom-4 Mission | Video Credit: The Hindu