Sunita Williams all set for her 3rd space mission
This mission is the first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Programme
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams will embark on her third space mission with Butch Wilmore.
As astronauts get ready to fly on May 6th onboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Boeing crew flight test to the International Space Station (ISS), Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams will embark on her third space mission with Butch Wilmore.
Space Launch Complex-41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida is where the astronauts are expected to launch on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft atop an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance. They will dock with the orbiting laboratory and stay there for around a week, as per an article in The Indian Express (IE).
In a statement, the American space agency said, “NASA will host two media opportunities on Thursday, April 25, in preparation for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. The mission is targeting launch at 10:34 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 6, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
This mission is the first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme. Its goal is to conduct a thorough assessment of the spacecraft’s capabilities, starting with the launch and ending with its landing in the western United States. NASA will begin the last steps of approving Starliner and its systems for upcoming crewed space station flights following a successful crewed flight test.
Chosen by NASA as an astronaut in 1998, Sunita Williams boasts Expedition 14/15, which ran from December 9, 2006, to June 22, 2007, was Sunita Williams’ first space journey. She was a Flight Engineer on STS-116 when it launched along with its crew. With four spacewalks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes, she set a record for ladies. In June 2007, she wrapped up her tour and headed back to Earth with the STS-117 crew.
Expedition 32/33, her second space mission, took place from July 14 to November 18, 2012. On July 14, 2012, she and Russian Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On board the orbiting laboratory, she conducted study and exploration for four months. Once more, Ms. Williams held the record for the most time spent on spacewalks overall, with a time of 50 hours and 40 minutes
On July 14, 2012, Sunita Williams set out on her mission with Russian Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide, departing from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. She spent four months doing study and exploration in the orbiting laboratory. On November 18, 2012, she made her way back to Earth following her 127-day stay in space.
According to the IE article, Sunita Williams and Hoshide carried out three spacewalks during their mission to fix an ammonia leak on a station radiator and change a part that supplies electricity to the station’s equipment from its solar arrays.
The Defence Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Navy Commendation Medal thrice, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal are just a few of the numerous decorations and distinctions that Ms. Williams, a former US Navy Captain, has received.
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