‘Welcome Home, Heroes!’: Shubhanshu Shukla returns to India after historic space mission

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta posted a video of the duo’s arrival on social media.

She wrote, “Welcome Home, Heroes! What a moment of pride for Delhi and for the entire nation! Honoured to welcome Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Mission Pilot of Axiom Mission-4 and first ISRO astronaut to reach the International Space Station along with Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of the astronauts chosen for India’s first human space mission Gaganyaan.”

On Saturday, Shukla posted a photograph and note on social media. “As I sit on the plane to come back to India, I have a mix of emotions running through my heart. I feel sad leaving a fantastic group of people behind who were my friends and family for the past year during this mission. I am also excited about meeting all my friends, family, and everyone in the country for the first time post-mission. I guess this is what life is – everything all at once,” he wrote.

“Having received incredible love and support from everyone during and after the mission, I can’t wait to come back to India to share my experiences with all of you. Goodbyes are hard, but we need to keep moving in life. As my commander Peggy Whitson fondly says, ‘The only constant in spaceflight is change.’ I believe that applies to life as well,” he added.

Shukla, who was part of the Axiom Mission-4 that lifted off from Florida on June 25, had been training in the US for over the past one year. The private space mission, which had three other astronauts as well, docked at the ISS on June 26. Shukla returned to Earth on July 15.