Will Sunita Williams remain in space now? Spacecraft faced problem, return postponed for the fourth time

Sunita Williams: The return of Indian-origin astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to Earth from the International Space Station has once again been postponed, in such a situation the question is arising that, will they remain there now? Actually, both the astronauts are stuck in space for the last 12 days. Sunita and Wilmore had reached the space station on June 6 and their return was to be on June 13, but their spacecraft has developed a technical fault due to which their return is being repeatedly hampered.

NASA’s Boeing Starliner spacecraft has postponed the return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore for the fourth consecutive time due to a technical glitch. The first announcement was made on June 9, stating that the landing was being pushed back to June 18. However, she could not return even on this day, after which the return date was extended to 22nd June and today again her return date has been extended to 26th June.

Today’s spacewalk has been canceled due to a water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit on NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s spacesuit. Stay tuned to the broadcast and follow the @Space_Station blog for mission updates: https://t.co/FRrjhINIvY pic.twitter.com/z8aNX6zBkx

— NASA (@NASA) June 24, 2024

NASA said everything is fine

The launch has already been postponed once due to a separate leak. After reaching orbit, four additional helium leaks developed, rendering one thruster unusable. NASA says that everything is fine, but apprehensions are being raised over the repeated postponement of their return. “We are taking our time and following our standard Mission Management Team process,” NASA’s Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in a statement to CBS News. “We are letting this drive our decision-making related to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance that we observed during rendezvous and docking.”

LIVE: @NASA_Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams speak with @SenBillNelson and agency leaders about their ongoing #Starliner mission on a call from the @Space_Stationhttps://t.co/1T7byBbzOL

— NASA (@NASA) June 10, 2024

Only 27 days of fuel left

Boeing Starliner Program Manager Mark Nappi said that the helium system is not working as designed. He said that engineers are working for the safe return of both the astronauts. According to the report, the fuel capacity of Starliner is 45 days. 18 days have passed since the start of this mission, so now only 27 days of fuel is left. At present, both NASA and Boeing are working for the safe return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.

,@NASA and @BoeingSpace teams set a return date of no earlier than Tuesday, June 18, for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. The additional time in orbit will allow the crew to perform a spacewalk on Thursday, June 13, while engineers complete #Starliner system checkouts. pic.twitter.com/GCnxKWZ6rU

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) June 9, 2024

Sunita Williams is on space travel for the third time

59 year old Sunita Williams is on space travel for the third time. Before this, he had successfully traveled to space twice. Before this, she had gone to space in 2006 and 2012. According to NASA, he has spent a total of 322 days in space. When Sunita traveled to space for the first time in 2006, she spent 195 days in space. When I went for the second time in 2012, I spent 127 days. During the space mission, the first spacewalk was done four times and the second time three times. Let us tell you that Sunita Williams is the second woman of Indian origin to travel to space, before this Kalpana Chawla had gone.