April 25, 2024
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams set for third space mission
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, along with Butch Wilmore, will embark on her third space mission with NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station set for launch on May 6.
The astronauts will lift off aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. They will dock at the orbiting laboratory, where they will stay for about a week.
About the mission
The mission, a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, is the first crewed flight for the Starliner spacecraft. The mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the spacecraft’s system, including launch, docking and return to Earth in the western United States. Following a successful crewed flight test, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and systems for crewed missions to the space station.
Williams’ earlier missions
Sunita Williams was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998 and is a veteran of two space missions — Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33.
Expedition 14/15 lasted from December 9, 2006 till June 22, 2007. As a member of the Expedition 14 crew, Williams served as the flight engineer. She concluded her tour of duty as a member of the Expedition 15 crew returning to Earth with the STS-117 crew to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
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