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Jul
National Times Bureau, July 15, 2025: With waves and radiant smiles, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla safely returned to Earth on Tuesday after an 18-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), marking a historic leap for India’s human spaceflight ambitions.Shukla, born in Lucknow, became the second Indian ever to venture into space after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 mission. He also scripted history as the first Indian to visit the ISS, spending a record 20 days in orbit.Shukla was part of the private Axiom-4 mission alongside mission commander Peggy Whitson and specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Their…