NASA astronaut Sunita Williams one of those responsible for piloting the first manned test flight of the capsule Starliner from Boeing, took command of the International Space Station (ISS) this weekend.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s mission was supposed to last just eight days, but the pair will complete eight months in space before being able to return to Earth on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicle in February 2025. The astronauts were added to the crew aboard the Space Station as their return plans were delayed.
On Sunday (22), Williams received the keys to the Space Station from Russian cosmonaut Olog Kononenko, the previous commander of the orbiting laboratory. Kononenko returned to Earth on Monday (23) on the Russian Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft.
Taking command of the ISS may not have been part of Suni Williams’ initial plans when she embarked on the first Starliner mission, but the astronaut is already familiar with the role.
Williams commanded the lab during ISS Expedition 33, taking over in September 2012, when she became only the second woman to hold the post.
How did Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore get “stranded” in space?
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth without its crew in early September, ending a three-month test mission marred by technical issues with the vehicle that forced astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to stay in space a little longer.
Williams and Wilmore became the first crew to fly Starliner in June, and have been on the International Space Station ever since.
While the mission was intended to be a final test flight before NASA certified Starliner for routine missions, the agency decided to keep astronauts out of the capsule for safety reasons and cast uncertainty over the spacecraft’s certification despite Boeing’s successful return on Sept. 6.
The two astronauts are expected to return to Earth only in February 2025, on NASA’s Crew 9 mission in partnership with SpaceX.
The ISS, which has served as home for Williams and Wilmore in recent months, is a football-field-sized science laboratory about 250 miles (402 km) in space, with seven other astronauts on board who arrive and depart at different times in other spacecraft.
During this extra time spent in the space lab, the two continue to perform scientific experiments, maintenance tasks and help prepare for spacewalks.
This content was originally published in Still in space, Starliner astronaut takes command of the Space Station on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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