Sunita William is a 59-year-old Indian-origin astronaut who was expected to return from space on June 18, but her coming back home to Earth is getting postponed to June 22. This is the second delay announced by the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which is carrying Sunita William along with Butch Wilmore.
On June 5, the spacecraft was launched for the journey of the space confirmed by the US space agency NASA. It was scheduled to undock from the International Space Station (ISS), but the return of the spacecraft is getting delayed due to the spacecraft experiencing technical challenges.
Though the real reason for the delay is not revealed in the Boeing statement that came out recently, it can be speculated that there could be operational challenges that might be faced by the team during their planning for the departure.
"The extra time allows the team to finalize departure planning and operations while the spacecraft remains cleared for crew emergency return scenarios within the flight rules," NASA and Boeing said in a statement.
The astronaut's return to Earth is expected to take approximately six hours. The landing is scheduled for June 22 and will occur in the desert of Utah or New Mexico, or at backup locations depending on the weather conditions on the day of landing.
In the International Space Station (ISS), Sunita Williams has conducted extensive scientific research. She focused on experiments related to the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body and she has performed multiple spacewalks.
The mission is conducted with the goal of increasing humankind's access to space. While on board the station, both astronauts were to test and verify Starliner's systems.
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