Sunita Williams makes history on Boeing’s Starliner maiden crewed mission

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams walk at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, on the day of Boeing's Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., June 1, 2024. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, carrying astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday for a pivotal test mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Williams, 58, an Indian American astronaut, became the first woman to pilot a spacecraft on its maiden mission. This flight marks her third journey into space.

Moments before liftoff, Williams radioed mission control, saying, “Let’s go, Calypso. Take us to space and back,” referring to the Starliner capsule's name. The spacecraft is set to arrive at the ISS around 9:45 PM Indian Standard Time (12:15 PM ET) on Thursday.

Williams’s mother, Bonnie Pandya, shared her daughter’s excitement, telling NBC News that Sunita was in high spirits and “so happy about going.”

On Thursday morning, NASA updated that both Williams and Wilmore were performing initial tests on the Starliner spacecraft in orbit. “The first six hours have been absolutely fascinating,” said Wilmore, who took manual control of the spacecraft, to the mission center at NASA’s Houston facility.

The Crew Flight Test aims to certify the Starliner for regular space travel to and from the ISS, a milestone already achieved by Elon Musk’s SpaceX with its Crew Dragon capsule.

Upon safely arriving at the ISS, Wilmore and Williams will join the Expedition 71 crew, including NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy C. Dyson, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.

“Two bold NASA astronauts are well on their way on this historic first test flight of a brand-new spacecraft,” stated NASA Administrator Bill Nelson after the Starliner launch.

Elon Musk congratulated Boeing on the successful launch, tweeting, “Congratulations on a successful launch!”

During a 2013 press conference in New Delhi, Williams shared that she carries the Bhagavad Gita and samosas on her space missions.

After spending about a week on the ISS, Williams and Wilmore will undock and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, landing in the southwestern United States on June 10, according to NASA.

NASA chief Bill Nelson called the successful liftoff a “special moment” and “another one of those great markers in history,” celebrating it as a milestone achievement for the future of spaceflight.

In 2014, NASA’s Commercial Crew program awarded Boeing and SpaceX contracts to carry astronauts to the ISS after retiring its Space Shuttle Program in 2011. Boeing received over $4 billion to develop the Starliner, while SpaceX received about $2.6 billion.

Sunita Williams, from Needham, Massachusetts, holds a physical science degree from the US Naval Academy and a master’s in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology. Her first spaceflight was Expedition 14/15 (December 2006 to June 2007), launching on the space shuttle Discovery’s STS-116 mission to the ISS. During her time onboard, Williams set a world record for women with four spacewalks.

Selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1998, Williams has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions, with 50 hours and 40 minutes of cumulative EVA time on seven spacewalks. She has collaborated with Roscosmos on the ISS and with the first Expedition crew.

Barry Wilmore, 61, has logged 178 days in space and 25 hours and 36 minutes on four spacewalks.

(Inputs from ANI)