Sunita Williams Returns to Earth: After a successful mission in International space station (ISS), NASA astronaut Sunita Williams returned safely to Earth. She came back on 19th march at 1:05 am ET after her 9 month long expedition in space. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore are now back to earth via SpaceX.
The astronauts were spanning for more than 9 months, vessels detached during early hours today and targeted a landing on the water of the Florida coastline. The decision to water land in the early hours depended on weather conditions. Their landing has been made live on X and YouTube and already Reentry and Splashdown coverage setup was done and had begun 4:45 pm EST.
Long stay of Sunita Williams in space
The mission started nine month ago was earlier an eight day mission which extended to this long duration. Original timetable was a launch using Starliner crew capsule by Boeing. Due to technical complexities NASA has to transfer the test pilots and return starliner empty which further caused delay.
NASA launched the mission on 5 June and need to return on 14 June but Helium leak caused multiple delays and it went until 19 march. On August 24, Starliner confirmed that crew will land in 2025 and starliner returned on 7 sept in Mexico.
Further the delay happened due to battery issues in SpaceX Dragon capsule and Nasa decided to opt for refurbishment and scheduled Sunita Williams and Wilmore’s return to March.
Was Sunita William and Butch Abandoned?
While the mission was unexpectedly long NASA has made sure the arrival of both William and Willmore is very safe and they were never stranded. This extended stay sparked controversy that political administration abandoned the astronauts. But NASA and both astronaut denied it. The astronauts told that they have full access to the SpaceX and it was docked at station since sept 2023 which could have returned them anytime they wanted.
The SpaceX dragon opened on 16 March at 1:35 am. After discovering technical issues and propulsion problem spacecraft successfully returned to Earth in an unmanned craft. Instead of rushing their return the astronaut was provided with ISS facilities.
Mission was to evaluate the spacecraft intended to serve as NASA‘s transport system. Sunita Williams and Wilmore later joined the regular crew and worked on scientific research and maintenance task.
Next steps after returning back
As soon as Sunita and Butch made splashdown in Gulf of Mexico after 286 days in Space they were carried on stretcher and provided immediate medical attention as after prolonged exposure to microgravity they will face Muscle atrophy and Balance issues.
Shifted to Johnson Space Center for health checks and routine building in gravity environment till they can go home.
Sunita William and Butch will debrief the mission experiences and challenges they faced during the mission.
Sunita Williams expected to have family reunion after the gravity challenges are over. She constantly provided update about how she saw Mahakumbh picture from space and Ganesh idol she carried with her in space.
Related Updates
PM Modi and ISRO chairperson congratulated Williams on her arrival quoting “Earth missed you”. Several political leaders also hailed Suni’s return. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu applauded Astronaut Sunita Williams’ resilience and congratulated her on her safe return to Earth after an extended space mission.
Naidu further added this was the journey of Human determination and Teamwork that she returned safely. This was second time she went to space and returned back safely.
Anand Mahindra welcomed Williams back to Earth and said Williams is courage personified and its good to have her back. Swagtam Sunita he added further.
President Murmu congratulated on Suni’s historic return. Sunita Williams is trending on top google search since yesterday.