Chennai, July 14 -- Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh today welcomed back Indian astronaut, who piloted the Ax-4 mission to ISS and said the entire nation was eagerly awaiting his arrival back home after a 18-day stay at the orbital platform.

The four-member Ax-4 crew undocked from ISS after the hatch was closed upon boarding the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the space-facing port of the International Space Station's Harmony module, completing the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4).

During his 18-day docking at ISS, Shux, who became the second Indian to travel to space in 41 years after Rakesh Sharma in 1984, conducted seven microgravity experiments and his v...