Indian-origin American astronaut Sunita Williams started a spacewalk on the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday evening at 6:30 pm Indian time. Astronaut Butch Wilmore was also with her during this time. During this spacewalk, which lasted for about 5.5 hours, both cleaned the outer part of the ISS and took samples for microbial experiment. According to reports, this will reveal whether the microorganisms are alive on the ISS or not. Apart from this, the broken antenna was also separated from the ISS. This was Sunita Williams’ 9th spacewalk. She has made a record of doing the longest spacewalk, breaking the record of astronaut Peggy Whitson of 60 hours and 21 minutes. She has so far done a spacewalk of a total of 62 hours and 6 minutes in space. This is Butch Wilmore’s fifth spacewalk. Sunita did a spacewalk for the second time in 15 days
This is Sunita Williams’ second spacewalk within 15 days. On January 16, he did a spacewalk for 6 and a half hours with astronaut Nick Hague. Both these astronauts were to do a spacewalk on January 23, but this day was extended for 7 days for their preparation. NASA said that if microorganisms are found there, then the experiment will help in understanding how they survive and reproduce in the space environment. An attempt will also be made to know how far they can travel in space. It will also be investigated whether these microorganisms will be able to survive on planets like the Moon and Mars. Sunita Williams’ 8-day journey turned into 10 months
Sunita Williams has been in space for about 8 months. She reached the ISS with Butch Wilmore on June 5 last year. They were to return after a week. Both had gone to test Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, but after it malfunctioned, both stayed on the ISS. Since then, both are stuck there. NASA had informed that Sunita and Butch Wilmore would be brought back in February 2025 by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. But now it may take more time for them to return. NASA said last month that they would have to wait till the end of March 2025. This date may also be extended till the beginning of April. According to NASA, SpaceX has to build a new capsule to bring Sunita Williams back from space. SpaceX will take time to build it, due to which the mission will be delayed. This work can be completed by the end of March. Only after this the astronauts trapped in space can be brought back. Elon Musk will bring back Sunita Williams trapped in space
America’s new President Donald Trump has entrusted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk with the task of bringing back Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore trapped in space. Both scientists have been stranded in space since June last year. Trump wrote on social media – I have asked Musk to bring back those two ‘brave astronauts’. They have been left in space by the Biden administration. They have been waiting at the space station for many months. Musk will soon start this work. Hopefully everyone will be safe. Musk replied that we will do the same. It is terrible that the Biden administration has left them there for so long. Whereas NASA had already included SpaceX several months ago to bring back both the astronauts under its crew-mission. Why were Sunita and Wilmore sent to the space station? Sunita and Bush Wilmore went on Boeing and NASA’s joint ‘Crew Flight Test Mission’. In this, Sunita was the pilot of the spacecraft. Bush Wilmore, who went with her, was the commander of this mission. Both had to return to Earth after staying 8 days in the International Space Station (ISS). At the time of launch, Ted Colbert, President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, called it a great beginning of a new era of space research. The main objective of this mission was to prove the spacecraft’s ability to take astronauts to the space station and bring them back. The astronauts also had to do research and many experiments in 8 days at the space station. Sunita and Wilmore are the first astronauts who were sent on space travel through the Atlas-V rocket. During this mission, they also had to fly the spacecraft manually. Many objectives related to the flight test also had to be completed. How did Sunita and Wilmore get stuck in space for such a long time?
The Starliner spacecraft had many problems since its launch. Due to these, the launch had failed many times even before June 5. There were reports of problems in the spacecraft even after the launch. NASA said that there is a small helium leak in the thruster of the spacecraft’s service module. A spacecraft has many thrusters. With their help, the spacecraft changes its path and speed. At the same time, due to the presence of helium gas, pressure is created on the rocket. Its structure remains strong, which helps the rocket in its flight. In 25 days after the launch, there were 5 helium leaks in the spacecraft’s capsule. 5 thrusters had stopped working. Apart from this, a propellant valve could not be closed completely. Even the crew in space and the mission manager sitting in Houston, America, together were unable to fix it.
