Sunita Williams Holds World's First Space Press Conference, Explains Why She Can't Return to Earth Yet
The US Boeing Starliner capsule, which was stuck in space for several months due to technical fault, returned to Earth a few days ago, but Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who went with it, have not been able to return to Earth yet. On Friday, she held the world's first press conference in space, 420 kilometers away from Earth. During this, Sunita Williams explained why she could not return to Earth right now. Sunita said that it had been very difficult for the Boeing plane to go to Earth without her and then for her to spend so many months in space.
However, Sunita Williams also said that she is enjoying being in space a lot. NASA's Boeing plane has returned safely to Earth just a few days ago. But Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were not in it. According to NASA, bringing them back to Earth by this plane could have proved dangerous. Therefore, Sunita and Wilmore have been left in space. Both the astronauts went on an 8-day space mission in June. But now they will remain in space for about 8 months.
Sunita Williams said that she could not return due to technical flaws in the plane. But she will return soon. At present, she likes being in space. She still has many things to do here. Sunita said that she had already been in space twice. Therefore, she did not have to face much difficulty here. However, she also said that spending time in orbit was very difficult for us and we did not like Boeing returning without us. But she is excited. Because space is her favorite place. She said that she is happy to have 2 different space flights on the same mission. She is a tester and this is her job.
Due to problems in the 'thruster' of the spacecraft and leakage of helium, it failed to bring the astronauts back to Earth. Two pilots of the US space agency NASA will now remain on the ISS till next year. For months, questions were raised about the return of Wilmore and Williams, as engineers struggled to understand the problems in the spacecraft. After extensive testing, Boeing said the Starliner was safe for a return trip to Earth, but NASA disagreed and instead decided to have SpaceX bring the astronauts back. The SpaceX spacecraft will not be launched until later this month, meaning Wilmore and Williams will remain in space until February.
Now the SpaceX spacecraft will bring both astronauts back in February next year, making their eight-day mission more than eight months long. Experienced astronauts and retired Navy captains Wilmore and Williams are keeping themselves busy in space and helping with repair and maintenance work and experiments. They are now working with seven other passengers on the space station. Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, said earlier this week that the space team has been so focused on the return of the Starliner that they have not had time to think about Boeing's next project.
