This would have been Sunita Williams’ third space trip. (FILE)
New Delhi:
Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, the poster girl for women who aspire to fly to space, was supposed to take to the skies again today in a brand-new spacecraft, but that didn’t happen as planned.
The Boeing Starliner’s launch into space was “eliminated” or canceled just three minutes and fifty-one seconds before takeoff. Now it is postponed until another day. Both astronauts – Williams and Butch Wilmore – were sitting in the new Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which was on its maiden mission. Takeoff was supposed to take place with the Atlas V rocket from Florida, USA, at 10 pm, but it was postponed minutes before takeoff.
This is the second cleaning of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Both astronauts are safe. The Atlas V rocket is also safe. As of now, NASA estimates it will take at least 24 hours to try again, but no new liftoff time has been announced.
A technical failure was detected by the ground launch sequencer, the computer that monitors the rocket’s health. The astronauts will now exit the Starliner capsule and return to crew quarters at the Kennedy Space Center.
A previous attempt, on May 7, was delayed hours before takeoff due to a technical failure. A statement from NASA said: “Boeing, United Launch Alliance and NASA have eliminated the previous May 7 launch opportunity. [India time] due to a suspected oxygen relief valve on the Centaur second stage of the Atlas V rocket. Teams have since removed and replaced the valve and completed an assessment of Starliner’s performance and redundancy after discovering a small helium leak in the Starliner’s service module. spaceship.”
This would have been the third space trip for the Indian-origin astronaut, who has already spent 322 days in space and held the record for the maximum number of hours of spacewalk performed by a woman, before being surpassed by Peggy Whitson.
This time, she could make history as the first woman to fly on an inaugural crewed mission of a new space shuttle.
Williams made her first spaceflight on December 9, 2006, which lasted until June 22, 2007. While on board, she set a world record for women by performing four spacewalks that totaled 29 hours and 17 minutes.
The 59-year-old admitted to being a little nervous, but said she wasn’t afraid of flying in a new spacecraft. She helped design the Starliner, working with engineers from NASA and Boeing. “When I get to the International Space Station, it will be like coming home,” she said.
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