NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Wilmore’s journey on the Starliner spacecraft feels like a science thriller. It began with NASA’s announcement that Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore would be the first to fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner. Initially, the launch was delayed by a month, and now their return to Earth has been postponed by several months.
Who are Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore?
File Photo: Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore
Williams, is an Indian-origin American astronaut, one of the first women to fly aboard Starliner’s maiden mission, and has logged 322 days in space over three missions.Wilmore is an eight-time space-flight veteran astronaut, and retired US Navy Captain, having completed two spaceflights for a cumulative total of 178 days in space.
What is the motive behind this mission?
Boeing starliner (Crdits: X)
The main intent of this space mission is to test and validate the capabilities of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, ensuring safety and functionality for future human spaceflights, the scientific research and experiments conducted on board the ISS will significantly contribute to our perception of space and technological advancement. The increased duration allows astronauts to collect a substantial amount of data that supports NASA’s long-term space exploration and human spaceflight objectives.
Is Sunita Williams returning to the Earth?
Recently, a video of the astronaut Sunita Williams aboard a spacecraft is making rounds on social media. The viral clip claims that the Indian-American astronaut is set to return to the Earth after 127 days of her expedition in space.
However, the clip is over a decade old and has nothing to do with her current mission. This video, captioned “After successful 127 days of Space Tour, ‘Ms Sunita Williams’ returning safely to Earth,” was shot in around 2012. The original seven-minute video features Williams offering a tour of life aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during the final days of one of her former expeditions. The version circulating online currently is the tour video in edited form and significantly shorter, which was uploaded by NASA to YouTube more than 12 years ago.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1056715439572901
As of now, Sunita Williams is on board the ISS, but she has yet to make an entry back to Earth. Since June 2024, Williams has been on board the ISS with fellow astronaut Barry Wilmore. The mission had initially been planned to last for 10 days after the successful docking of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the ISS, but it has been extended longer due to technical issues in the Starliner. As a result, their ISS stay was extended till February 2025. During the course of their extended spaceflight, the astronauts are expected to be confined to space for a total of around 240 days and continue working to collect valuable data.
What is the current update?
Williams and Wilmore will return to Earth in the SpaceX Dragon capsule, instead of the Starliner that was scheduled to get back the abandoned astronauts from space, after wrapping up months of working aboard the International Space Station.
All you need to know
It is crucial to be informed about the facts, that she is still actively engaged in her mission and will not be returning to Earth until next year. Although this video of Sunita Williams giving a tour of the ISS is interesting and looks like it was shot recently, it is over 10 years old and has nothing to do with her new journey. Misinformation spreads like wildfire, but facts are that Williams is still on the ISS and will return in 2025.
