Delay in return of Sunita Williams stuck on International Space Station to Earth

The return to Earth of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who were stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for the last several months, has been postponed till March next year. In June this year, both these astronauts reached ISS via Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

American space agency NASA has said that their return has been postponed due to the delay in SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission. The reason for this delay is the ongoing work on the new Crew Dragon spacecraft. The Crew-10 mission will be accompanied by NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. This mission will be launched at the end of March through SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

The mission duration of Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore was for 10 days but due to technical problems in the Starliner spacecraft, they have been stuck on the ISS for almost nine months. A few months ago, the command of ISS was handed over to Williams by Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko. As commander of the ISS, Williams is overseeing a variety of operations and research.

Recently, Williams shared his views on the delay in returning to Earth in a video press conference. He described ISS as a ‘happy place’. Williams said that due to his previous experience, the adjustment to life in space has not been difficult. Regarding this, Wilmore had said that there was no consensus regarding his return on the Starliner. His stay has been extended due to some technical problems not being resolved. Wilmore stated that his current situation is for the better due to safety concerns with the Starliner. However, Williams admitted that there is some stress due to her extended stay on the ISS but she is focusing on the mission. Earlier, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had said that such challenges being faced by NASA will be an important lesson for the country’s Gaganyaan mission. ISRO chief, S Somanath had said that there is an important lesson for the Gaganyaan mission.