Astronaut Shukla’s Emotional Reunion with Family after Space Mission

July 17, 2025 - Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla shared photos on Instagram on Wednesday July 16, capturing the emotional reunion with his family after a 20-day space journey. The meeting took place at a special facility in Houston, where he embraced his wife Kamna and six-year-old son Kiash. His wife was seen in tears during the heartfelt moment.

In his post, Shubhangshu wrote, “Flying to space is an incredible experience, but reuniting with your loved ones after a long time is just as amazing.”

He mentioned that he had been in quarantine for the past two months, and during that time, he could only meet his family while maintaining a distance of 8 metres.

The astronaut, nicknamed Shux by his crewmates, wrote. “It has been two months since I entered quarantine. During the quarantine family visits we had to be eight metres apart. My little one had to be told that he had germs on his hands and that is why he could not touch his father.”

He added, “It truly felt like home when I returned to Earth and held my family in my arms. In his message to all, Shubhanshu said, “Find a loved one today and tell them that you love them. We often get busy in life and forget how important the people in our lives are. Human spaceflight missions are magical but they are made magical by the humans,” he said.

Shukla returned to Earth on July 15 onboard SpaceX’s Dragon space capsule Grace.