Updated May 6, 2024, 4.33pm IST
Sunita Williams prepares for a historic return to space aboard Boeing Starliner, marking a milestone in human spaceflight and inspiring future generations of this NASA mission. Know details.
Sunita Williams with Astronaut Butch Wilmore. (Image Credits: NASA)
NASA‘s renowned Indian-American Astronaut Sunita Williams is getting ready to make history again in space missions. After setting records for the most spacewalks by a woman and spending 322 total days in space, Williams will now fly as the pilot on Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft. This will be her third mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Williams and her crewmate Butch Wilmore were originally assigned to the Starliner mission way back in 2018. However, they had to wait six long years as Boeing faced many delays and technical problems. Finally, the Crew Flight Test mission is scheduled to launch at 6:30 pm ET, May 6, 2024 (4:00 am, May 7) from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
NASA has confirmed that after docking at the station, they will spend about a week there testing all of Starliner’s systems, such as launch, docking, and return to Earth in the western United States.
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Sunita Williams: Back in SpaceFor Williams, this flight means an exciting return to space after 12 years, since her last mission on a Russian Soyuz in 2012. “I really cannot wait ’til we see the space station through the window. That will be super cool,” she shared.
In 1998, NASA selected Sunita Williams as an astronaut. She embarked on her first space mission in 2006-2007 aboard the Space Shuttle, spending nearly 7 months on the Space Station. Williams set a record with 4 spacewalks totaling over 29 hours. Her di lei second mission di lei in 2012, on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, lasted 4 months. Her total spacewalk time of over 50 hours set a new record. Williams has spent a total of 322 days in space across her two missions, ranking second among female astronauts.
