Astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary depart space station for return flight

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FILE PHOTO: The Axiom-4 crew, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary, Commander Peggy Whitson of the U.S., and Mission Specialist Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, react as they greet their family members before their mission to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo

LOS ANGELES - NASA retiree turned private astronaut Peggy Whitson and four crewmates from India, Poland and Hungary departed the International Space Station early on Monday and embarked on their return flight to Earth.

A Crew Dragon capsule carrying the quartet undocked from the orbital laboratory at 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115 GMT),ending the latest ISS visit organized by Texas-based startup Axiom Space in partnership with Elon Musks California-headquartered rocket venture SpaceX.

The Axiom astronauts, garbed in their helmeted white-and-black flightsuits, were seen in live video footage strapped into the crew cabin shortly before the vehicle separated from the station, orbiting some 260 miles (418 km) over the east coast of India.

A couple of brief rocket thrusts then pushed the capsule safely clear of the ISS.

Whitson, 65, and her three Axiom crewmates - Shubhanshu Shukla, 39, of India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, 41, of Poland, and Tibor Kapu, 33, of Hungary - spent 18 days aboard the space station conducting dozens of research experiments in microgravity.

The mission stands