Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, pilot of the Ax-4 mission, smiles and waves as he safely returned to Earth after a landmark 18-day stay on the ISS, becoming the first Indian to visit the station.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying Shukla and the multinational Ax-4 crew, undocked from the ISS at 4:45 pm IST on Monday and completed a carefully orchestrated 22-hour journey home

Shubhanshu Shukla is the first Indian to step aboard the ISS and only the second Indian to go into space, following Rakesh Sharma's iconic flight in 1984. Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force officer and test pilot,