Shubhanshu Shukla Landed In Ocean, While Rakesh Sharma Returned On Land – Here’s Why | World News
New Delhi: In the silence of the place, the return home is not always about the wheels that touch the concrete. When he returned from a successful space mission, the Indian astronaut group captain Shubhanshu Shukla took a safe leaping to the Pacific Ocean near California, riding the SpaceX Dragon capsule. The landing was smooth, calculated and calm. At this moment, about 41 years ago, he aroused another episode in the history that began in a dusty plain in Kazakhstan.
In April 1984, India’s first man in space Wing Commander Raqesh Sharma returned to the Soviet Soyuz T-10 capsule. The landing site was the expanding and swamp fields of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan. His task took him to the Soviet Salyut 7 space station.
His return was noisy, turbulent and almost shaken. But its history. And why did an astronaut ask a question that he had returned to the sea and the other?
Answer is a mixture of spacecraft design, logistics, security calculations and national strategy.
Is it a safe goal or a leap?
The ocean descents, which engineers call “jump ,, are generally the first choice for tasks that return to the United States. SpaceX’s dragon descends to the ocean, like the previous Apollo mission. Pillows water effect. It also provides a large natural buffer zone. The debris from the body of Spacecraft is shaken before the entry, and falls harmlessly to the ocean, not to the populated land.
But even the jumps have risks. Earlier this year, parts of a dragon body thrown in the remote parts of Australia and Canada were found. Fortunately, nobody was damaged. The incident proved that even the ocean was not perfect.
Going on the solid floor may seem simpler, but it is far from it. He made Boeing’s Starliner in 2024 by scoring a goal at the Port of White Sands Space, New Mexico.
Russia and China have preferred land landing for decades. Capsules descend in the wide and controlled wild nature, such as Kazakhstan or inner Mongolia.
Benefits? There is no need for easier recovery, lower cost and sea support.
Risks? A more difficult landing. More shock to the body. Especially for astronauts re -adapted to gravity after days or weeks in orbit.
Space Vehicle Design Dictates the Landing Style
The spacecraft is not the only body that fits everyone. Each vehicle is designed with a specific re -entry plan. Whether Russia’s Soyuz, China’s Shenzhou, SpaceX’s dragon or Boeing’s Starliner, the descent site selection is placed in the bones of the capsule.
A leap in Shukla’s case made sense. SpaceX tasks are designed for water descents. The Pacific Ocean provides flexibility, comfort and recovery access. The safety of the crew comes first. Recovery ships wait in the position and the helicopters are usually deployed to reach the crew after scoring the crew.
However, for the Soyuz capsule that brought Raqesh Sharma back, it was a parachute guided landing norm on the hard soil. This task ended in a semi -frozen world near Arkalyk, a deserted stretch where Soviet cosmonauts have landed for generations. The rugged sweater steppe has been used for such operations for a long time, and its openness reduces the risk of nearby population.
He remembers a senior
Raqesh Sharma opened in 2024 about the return to Earth. When he spoke to PTI, he described the raw and shocking moments of the entrance again.
“Return was more dramatic than expected. There was a point that I thought you might not go as planned. And suddenly parachute was opened.
It was a reminder. Re -entry is not a routine landing. Survival.
Space, then and now
A lot changed from Sharma’s Soviet capsule in 1984 to Shukla’s Spacex Dragon in 2024. Technology developed. Special players stepped in. Comfort and control developed. But nothing has changed – the world is still a difficult place to go back.
Deniz offered calm and sensitivity for Shubhanshu Shukla. Raqesh presented the world durability and tradition for Sharma. Two astronauts. Two ages. Two different journeys returning home.
