Sunita Williams to return from ISS: Sunita Williams, the Indian-origin NASA astronaut, and her colleague Butch Willmore are set to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) earlier than expected, with a probable date of March 19. The astronauts will be making their journey back to Earth after spending almost 10 months in space. Both Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in space since last September as there was some technical issue with Boeing’s Starliner that was used to take them to the ISS.
Williams, 59, and Wilmore went on what was meant to be an eight-day mission to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June 2024. However, technical issues including helium leaks and thruster malfunctions meant that the Starliner was unsafe for their return.
NASA plans to bring them back to Earth in late March aboard a spaceship built by SpaceX, a rival company of Boeing. Despite these setbacks, the astronauts have continued their work aboard the ISS while awaiting a safe journey home.
During her stay on the ISS, Williams broke the record for total spacewalking time by a woman by logging 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalk. Both Williams and Butch Wilmore conducted the spacewalk. The duo ventured outside the ISS to remove degraded radio communications hardware and collect samples that may show whether microorganisms exist on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory.
In 2012, during a trip to the ISS, Williams became the first person to finish a triathlon in space, during which she simulated swimming using a weight-lifting machine and ran on a treadmill while strapped in by a harness so she wouldn’t float away.
(With inputs from AP)
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