9 days ago
- copy link
On reaching the space station, both the astronauts were welcomed with hugs by other astronauts.
The Dragon spacecraft of billionaire Elon Musk's company SpaceX reached the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Hague were aboard this spacecraft. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the spacecraft took off from the Cape Canaveral launch pad in Florida on Saturday afternoon.
Indian-origin astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 6, will be brought back to Earth in February 2025 via Dragon spacecraft. In this four-seater rocket, two seats have been left vacant.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were sent to the ISS on June 5 this year in Boeing's new Starliner capsule.
Both were to return on June 13, but their return was postponed due to a technical glitch in the spacecraft.
Sunita and Butch Wilmore stuck in space for 116 days Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were sent to the ISS on June 5 this year in Boeing's new Starliner capsule. Both have been there for 116 days till September 29.
NASA Chief had told on August 24 that Sunita Williams and Butch would return to Earth after 6 months by February 2025. NASA had acknowledged that bringing astronauts into Boeing's new Starliner capsule could be dangerous.
NASA had told that Sunita and Butch Wilmore would return in February on the Dragon spacecraft of Elon Musk's company SpaceX.
Why were Sunita and Wilmore sent to the space station? Sunita and Bush Wilmore went on the joint 'Crew Flight Test Mission' of Boeing and NASA. In this, Sunita was the pilot of the spacecraft. Bush Wilmore, who accompanied him, was the commander of this mission. Both of them were to return to Earth after an 8-day stay in the International Space Station (ISS).
At the time of the launch, Ted Colbert, President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, called it a great start to a new era of space research. The main objective of this mission was to prove the spacecraft's ability to take astronauts to the space station and bring them back.
Astronauts also had to do research and many experiments at the space station in 8 days. Sunita and Wilmore are the first astronauts who were sent on space travel using the Atlas-V rocket. During this mission he also had to fly the spacecraft manually. Many types of objectives related to flight test also had to be completed.
