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A new date for the Boeing Starliner’s arrival to Earth has not yet been announced.
Earlier, the return of the spacecraft was scheduled for June 26. Before that, the first possible date was June 14.
Williams and Wilmore were expected to return home after spending about a week in orbit.
Williams made history by becoming the first female astronaut to fly on the first manned space shuttle flight.
Come on, Calypso!
The two astronauts flew on June 5 as a final demonstration mission to receive regular flight certification from NASA.
Starliner’s first crewed test revealed five failures of its 28 maneuvering thrusters, a helium gas leak, and a problem with a slow-moving propellant valve.
On June 7, Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams suddenly started dancing as she entered the ISS.
He and his partner Butch Wilmore were greeted with “As the Bell Rings!”
Williams, 58, was the pilot of the crewed test flight, and went to space for the third time aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
The Expedition 71 crew welcomed Williams and Wilmore after the Starliner arrived at the ISS at about 11:04 p.m. on June 7, about 26 hours after launch from the US Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
“As part of @USNavy tradition for visiting ship captains, @NASA_Astronauts Butch Wilmore and @Astro_Suni were greeted by a bell as they arrived at the @Space_Station,” NASA posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Expedition 71 crew members gathered with Williams and Wilmore for a group photo on the space station.
“Let’s go, Calypso,” was the message Sunita sent to the mission control room a few minutes before take-off. The Starliner spacecraft is named Calypso.
NASA said Williams, known in the space community as Suni, expressed gratitude to her family and friends who were with her before the launch.
“We have another family here, which is great,” Williams said. “And we’re so happy to be in space, on an Atlas V in Starliner, and then here on the International Space Station. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
After resolving the new problems that arose during the flight, the spacecraft reached the ISS.
On June 6, while en route to the International Space Station, Sunita Williams and Wilmore tested a unique capability of the Starliner in orbit — manual piloting.
Although the spacecraft is generally autonomous, the crew used hand controllers to guide the spacecraft during the nearly two hours of flight.
According to NASA, the return of the spacecraft is possible only after the July 2 spacewalk.
“Mission managers are evaluating future return opportunities following the station’s two planned spacewalks on June 24 and July 2,” NASA said in a statement on June 21.
NASA officials had said they wanted to better understand the causes of thruster failures, valve problems and helium leaks before Starliner begins its roughly six-hour return journey.
About Sunita Williams
Williams, a native of Needham, Massachusetts, was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy from the United States Naval Academy in May 1987. She was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998.
During a press conference in New Delhi in 2013, Williams had said that she carries ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and ‘samosas’ with her during her space missions.
Williams’ mother, Bonnie Pandya, told NBC News hours before the flight that her daughter was in good spirits and “very happy to be going.”
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Published: June 25, 2024, 07:04 PM IST
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