Team Blitz India
NASA and Boeing are targeting for the Starliner spacecraft, piloted by Indian-American Sunita Williams, to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) and return to Earth this month, according to an update from the US space agency. “NASA and Boeing now are targeting no earlier than Saturday, June 22, to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission from the International Space Station. The extra time allows the team to finalize departure planning and operations while the spacecraft remains cleared for crew emergency return scenarios within the flight rules,” shared NASA.
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and commander Butch Wilmore are aboard the Boeing Starliner on the mission. They arrived at the ISS on June 6 and have completed numerous flight objectives required for NASA certification of Boeing’s transportation system for flights to the orbiting laboratory under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The 59-year-old Williams achieved a milestone being the first woman to pilot and assess a new crewed spacecraft during its inaugural mission. She safely docked the Boeing’s Starliner with the ISS and shared a short clip of her dance in jubilation of the achievement.
The crew has performed tasks as part of the space station team, including installing research equipment, maintaining the lab’s hardware, and helping station crewmembers Matt Dominick and Tracy Dyson prepare for a spacewalk, shared a blog on NASA website.
Engineering teams continue to increase their understanding of previous observations from Starliner propulsion systems on the spacecraft’s service module, the blog added.
The flight took off on June 5 and the journey till the ISS lasted 24 hours. Many challenges The blast off took place after many delays as the spacecraft experienced challenges including four helium leaks and five malfunctions of its 28 manoeuvring thrusters.
