India, July 15 -- The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crew members from the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at 3:01 PM IST on Tuesday, July 15. The re-entry marked the end of an 18-day research mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX confirmed the spacecraft - piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) - safely entered the Earth's atmosphere and made a successful splashdown. Boats were immediately dispatched to retrieve the astronauts, and the ground team conducted medical evaluations to assess their health. The crew will now undergo a re-acclimatisat...