NASA officially confirmed during the press conference regarding the Crew‑11 mission: the Dragon “Grace” capsule with the Axiom‑4 mission crew will detach from the International Space Station on Sunday, 14 July 2025. The crew, led by Peggy Whitson and including Shubhanshu Shukli, Tibor Kapu and Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański‑Wiśniewski, will begin their journey back to Earth after over two weeks full of intensive scientific work and educational activities.

The delay from the original schedule is due to the so-called polar cosmic day, which occurred on the ISS. For several days, the station was continuously illuminated by the Sun, preventing a safe change of its orientation necessary to detach the Dragon capsule. As NASA explains, in such conditions, changing orientation could cause the overheating of key ISS modules.

Now, as the "orbital night" begins to lengthen, the station can return to a safe configuration to allow the crew's return. Thanks to this, Sławosz and the other crew members gained several "bonus" days in space — which they fully utilized to complete experiments and document life in orbit.

What before the return?

Until the Dragon capsule detaches from the ISS, the crew is engaged in:
- securing experiment samples,
- packing equipment and personal belongings,
- conducting leak checks and system tests of the capsule,
- recording final educational materials and images from the Cupola.