Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Willmore. Picture Credit score: NASA
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, a trailblazer in house exploration, is ready to make historical past as soon as once more as she embarks on a journey again to the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) in her third journey to house. Whereas that is already a formidable feat, Williams might be making this journey on the age of 58, making her one of many oldest astronauts to go to house.
Williams, who achieved nice fame for her earlier house missions and spacewalks together with a stint aboard the ISS, will develop into one of many oldest astronauts to enterprise into house, along with her upcoming mission.
Scheduled for liftoff from the Kennedy Area Middle on Might 7, 2024, at 8:04 am (IST), Williams will function the mission pilot aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
This mission marks her return to house after a number of years, with Williams final visiting the ISS on the age of 58. With a exceptional profession spanning over twenty years, Williams has accrued a formidable document of 322 days spent in house, in accordance with official figures from NASA.
Notably, she previously held the document for essentially the most prolonged spacewalk time by a feminine astronaut, logging 50 hours and 40 minutes throughout seven spacewalks.
Accompanying Williams on this important journey is fellow astronaut Barry Willmore, a seasoned navy take a look at pilot with prior spaceflight expertise.
The duo will embark on a week-long mission to the ISS, geared toward testing the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems as a part of NASA’s Industrial Crew Program.
Whereas talking to NDTV, Williams expressed a mixture of pleasure and nervousness concerning the upcoming flight, and mentioned that her arrival on the ISS is much like “going again residence.”
Launching atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, Williams and Willmore will journey to the ISS, the place they are going to conduct numerous experiments and checks to guage the spacecraft’s capabilities, and might be staying for over every week.
Following their keep aboard the ISS, the astronauts will make a return journey to Earth by parachuting to the southwest of the US.
The Starliner spacecraft, named ‘Calypso’ by Williams in homage to Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s iconic ship, is designed to accommodate as much as seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo for low-Earth orbit missions, in accordance with Boeing.
Williams’ choice of the identify displays her admiration for Cousteau’s contributions to ocean exploration and conservation.
As Williams and Willmore put together to embark on this historic mission, their journey symbolizes the enduring spirit of exploration and collaboration in humanity’s quest for data past the confines of Earth.
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