“Indian-Origin Astronaut, Sunita Williams, Embarks on Her Third Space Journey Aboard NASA’s Boeing Starliner.”

NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams prepare for their flight at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Photo credit: NASA) © Provided by Asian News International (ANI)

The upcoming flight will be Williams’ third space mission.

According to NASA, the flight to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10 pm Indian Standard Time today.

As part of the Commercial Crew Program, ‘Suni’ Williams and fellow astronaut Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore will be the first humans to board the Starliner spacecraft.

United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket will launch the Starliner spacecraft into space. It will arrive at the ISS on Sunday, and the astronauts will conduct a series of tests for about a week. On June 10, the Starliner will undock from the ISS, re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, and make a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States, as per NASA.

If this mission is a success, NASA will start the final process of certifying the Starliner and its systems for future crewed missions to the ISS.

The Starliner capsule is designed to carry four astronauts or a combination of crew and cargo for NASA missions in low Earth orbit.

NASA, Boeing, and ULA are prepared for the June 1 launch of the Boeing Crew Flight Test, as announced during a pre-launch media briefing at Kennedy Space Center.

“I’m proud of the teams who have worked tirelessly over the last two and a half weeks to get us ready for launch,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We’re ready to go,” he added.

On May 30, the integrated ULA Atlas 5 rocket and Starliner spacecraft were rolled out to the pad at Space Launch Complex-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in preparation for liftoff.

Williams and Wilmore remained in pre-flight quarantine inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building after returning to the Florida spaceport on May 28.

On May 7, mission managers called off the Boeing Starliner Crewed Test Flight (CFT) just two hours before the scheduled launch due to a valve issue in the Atlas 5 rocket’s upper stage. Boeing stated that the valve was replaced on May 11 and tested to ensure proper functionality.

Subsequently, on May 14, NASA announced that the CFT mission, initially scheduled for May 17, had been postponed to May 21 or later due to a “small helium leak” in the spacecraft’s service module.

On May 17, the space agency further delayed the launch to May 25.

This flight, marking Boeing’s first Starliner spacecraft mission with a human crew, is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The program collaborates with the US aerospace industry through public-private partnerships to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from US soil.

In September 2014, NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX to transport crew to the ISS from the United States. These integrated spacecraft and rockets will carry up to four astronauts on NASA missions, ensuring a seven-person crew on the space station to maximize time dedicated to scientific research.

After an unsuccessful attempt in December 2019, Boeing successfully conducted an uncrewed Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) in 2022. According to the company, the Starliner is designed to be reusable for up to ten missions within a six-month period.

The Elon Musk-owned SpaceX company’s Crew Dragon has completed 12 crewed missions since its maiden launch on May 30, 2020.

Both Williams and Wilmore are former commanders of the International Space Station.

Williams, a native of Needham, Massachusetts, holds a degree in physical science from the US Naval Academy and a master’s degree in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Her first spaceflight was Expedition 14/15, which took place from December 2006 to June 2007. She launched on space shuttle Discovery’s STS-116 mission to the International Space Station, according to NASA.

During her time on board, Williams set a world record for women with four spacewalks. She concluded her mission and returned to Earth on June 22, 2007, aboard shuttle Atlantis’ STS-117 flight, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Williams was selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1998. Across two missions, she has spent a total of 322 days in space and accumulated 50 hours and 40 minutes of EVA time during seven spacewalks.

Williams collaborated with Roscosmos on their contribution to the space station and worked with the first Expedition crew.

Wilmore, 61, has logged 178 days in space and has spent 25 hours and 36 minutes on four spacewalks.

Boeing has planned six manned missions for the platform over the next six years, coinciding with the projected end of the ISS’ operational lifespan.

NASA intends to utilize both SpaceX’s Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner to send astronauts to the ISS at least twice a year from US soil. In 2014, NASA entrusted both Boeing and SpaceX with the responsibility of conducting commercial crew missions to the ISS.

Boeing received over USD 4 billion in federal funding to develop the Starliner, while SpaceX received approximately USD 2.6 billion. (ANI)

Tarah Nguyen

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