The return of the Starliner spacecraft to Earth, carrying astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS), has been postponed by NASA once again. This decision was made to allow for more time to thoroughly review the technical issues that have emerged during the mission. The new date for their return has yet to be announced, but the spacecraft was originally scheduled to land on June 26. This delay marks the second postponement, as the initial planned return date was June 14.
Williams and Wilmore were expected to return home after spending approximately a week in orbit. Williams, notably, etched her name in history by becoming the first female astronaut to pilot the first crewed flight of a Starliner spacecraft. The two astronauts embarked on their mission on June 5 as a final demonstration to secure routine flight certification from NASA. However, the first crewed test of the Starliner encountered several setbacks, including five failures of its 28 maneuvering thrusters, leaks of helium gas, and a slow-moving propellant valve.
On June 7, Sunita Williams, an Indian-American astronaut, brought a touch of joy to the mission by engaging in an impromptu dance as she entered the ISS. She and her colleague Butch Wilmore were greeted with the traditional ‘Bell Rings’ welcome, a customary practice for captains boarding a ship. Williams, a seasoned space traveler at 58, was making her third trip to space aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
The Expedition 71 crew welcomed Williams and Wilmore aboard the ISS after the Starliner successfully docked at approximately 11:04 pm IST on June 7, around 26 hours after its launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the US. “As part of @USNavy tradition for captains boarding a ship @NASA_Astronauts Butch Wilmore and @Astro_Suni each received bell rings as they came aboard @Space_Station,” NASA shared on X (formerly Twitter). The Expedition 71 crew members gathered with Williams and Wilmore for a group photo aboard the space station.
Before liftoff, minutes before embarking on their journey, Williams, fondly known as Suni in space circles, radioed to mission control, “Let’s go, Calypso,” a fitting message for the Starliner spacecraft, which is nicknamed Calypso. Williams expressed her gratitude to her family and friends who supported her leading up to the launch, stating, “We have another family up here, which is just awesome. And we’re just happy as can be to be up in space, one in Starliner on an Atlas V, and then here at the International Space Station. It just doesn’t get much better.”
The spacecraft, after overcoming new challenges during the flight, successfully docked with the ISS. On June 6, while en route to the ISS, Sunita Williams and Wilmore demonstrated a unique capability of the Starliner—manual piloting. Though the spacecraft is typically autonomous, the crew utilized the hand controller to steer and target the spacecraft during approximately two hours of the flight.
According to NASA, the spacecraft’s return is contingent on a spacewalk scheduled for July 2. “Mission managers are evaluating future return opportunities following the station’s two planned spacewalks on June 24 and July 2,” NASA stated in a press release on June 21. NASA officials have emphasized the need for a thorough understanding of the causes behind the thruster failures, valve issues, and helium leaks before the Starliner embarks on its roughly six-hour return journey.
Sunita Williams, hailing from Needham, Massachusetts, was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy from the United States Naval Academy in May 1987. She was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 1998. During a press conference in New Delhi in 2013, Williams revealed that she carries the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and ‘samosas’ with her during her space missions. Hours before liftoff, Williams’ mother, Bonnie Pandya, told NBC News that her daughter was in high spirits and “so happy about going.”
