Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and his Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew are expected to splash down near California at 3 pm today. Their Dragon capsule, named Grace, undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday. Since then, it has been on its way back to Earth.
Dragon and the @Axiom_Space Ax-4 crew are on track to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego at ~2:31 a.m. PT tomorrow.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 15, 2025
Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean pic.twitter.com/dS3KuHVWdH
Over 310 Orbits Completed
During their 21-day mission, the Ax-4 crew completed over 310 orbits around Earth. In total, they travelled 1.3 crore kilometres, which is about 33 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.
According to SpaceX, “Dragon and the Ax-4 crew are on track to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego at ~2:31 a.m. PT tomorrow. Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.”
Next, the Landing Process Begins
About 50 minutes after the de-orbit burn, Grace will release drogue parachutes to slow down. A minute later, the main parachutes will deploy. Once the capsule lands in the Pacific Ocean, recovery teams will quickly approach. Then, they will check the capsule’s safety, secure it, and lift it onto the recovery ship using a hydraulic cradle.
Afterwards, the crew will undergo basic medical checks. Later, a helicopter will take them to land for detailed medical tests, mission reports, and rest.
What Did Shukla Do in Space?
During the mission, Shukla and his crew carried out important research. To begin with, Shukla worked inside the Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG). He studied how muscles weaken in space. Meanwhile, Commander Peggy Whitson researched cancer cells, and Tibor Kapu conducted plant experiments.
Next, the crew studied how blood circulates in the brain during space travel. Additionally, Shukla and his team wore virtual reality headsets for the Neuro Motion VR project. They completed focus tasks while their brain signals were tracked using near-infrared technology.
After that, Shukla worked on the space microalgae experiment. He collected algae samples and took images to study their growth in microgravity.
Finally, the team participated in the PhotonGrav project, which aims to develop a brain-computer interface. Using a special headset, they monitored blood flow to understand brain activity. This research hopes to help humans control computers with their thoughts in the future.