Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla recently returned safely to Earth. Under the Axiom-4 mission, the Dragon spacecraft successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near the California coast Monday. Led by former NASA veteran Peggy Whitson and piloted by Group Captain Shukla, Axiom-4 arrived at the ISS June 26. The crew also included Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
Currently, Shukla remains under medical supervision, raising questions about why he needed a doctor. He addressed the concern by sharing a photo on Instagram, revealing that he is undergoing post-mission rehabilitation. Having spent 18 days in space, he has been sent to a rehab center to help his body readjust to Earth’s gravity. There, he is relearning to walk and regain normal physical balance.
ISRO confirmed that Shubhanshu Shukla’s condition is stable. The space agency added that his rehabilitation program is being conducted in collaboration with Axiom Space. His physical and mental health are being continuously monitored, and initial health checks have shown no serious issues.
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Captain Shukla wrote on his social media platform, ”We grow in an environment of gravity. Our body knows nothing else. Being in microgravity affects your body in multiple ways like loss of body fluids, slowing down of heart since it does not have to work against gravity to pump blood to your head, your vestibular senses have to readjust to new environment and several others. Quickly, the body adjusts itself to this new environment and astronauts feel alright.”
He further wrote, “A similar change happens when we come back to Earth. It is important to understand these effects to enable solutions for long duration space flights.
Post flight, even simple tasks like walking straight become a challenge, your reaction times reduce and balance deteriorates- all of them temporarily though.
This is me right after splashdown. Having flown to space learning to walk again.”
