Indian-origin American astronaut Sunita Williams is stuck in space. Sunita went on a space mission on 5 June 2024 aboard a spacecraft named Starliner. This is a joint ‘Crew Flight Test Mission’ of American aircraft company Boeing and NASA.
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In Bhaskar Explainer, we will know under which mission Sunita Williams went on a space journey, what problems did her spacecraft face and what big negligence is NASA being accused of…
Sunita and Wilmore were supposed to stay in space for a week, it has been 23 days
The launch of Starliner was postponed several times in the past months. Finally, on June 5, it took off from Earth and after a 25-hour journey, Sunita Williams reached the International Space Station (ISS). This is another historical record in Sunita’s name.
With this launch, Boeing became the second private firm to work on a mission to carry astronauts to and from the space station. Earlier, Elon Musk’s SpaceX had achieved this feat.
Boeing said that this launch is the beginning of NASA and Boeing’s Starliner crew flight test. At the time of the launch, Boeing Defense, Space and Security President and CEO Ted Colbert called it a great beginning of a new era of space research.
Under this mission, the astronauts had to stay at the space station for 8 days and do research and experiments. However, the main objective of this mission was to prove the spacecraft’s ability to take astronauts to the space station and bring them back. Sunita and Wilmore are the first astronauts who have been sent on space travel through the Atlas V rocket. During this mission, they had to fly the spacecraft manually. Many types of flight test objectives related to this flight test also had to be completed.
Continuous problems in spacecraft before and after launch
- On June 5, when an attempt was made to launch the spacecraft, there was some problem in its computer at the last moment. The first attempt failed. It was launched in the second attempt.
- The launch was cancelled earlier on May 6 due to leak investigation and repairs of the rocket. A Reuters report said, ‘On May 6, the launch countdown was halted due to a problem in a pressure valve in the upper stage of the rocket just two hours before the launch. After this, the launch was postponed till June 5 due to technical glitches.’
- According to a report by British news website Telegraph, there was a problem in a valve that controls the flow of oxidizer in the space craft. Oxidizer means chemicals that are necessary to burn the rocket fuel. Rockets are able to change their path only when the rocket fuel burns with the help of oxidizer, because a lot of energy is required during this. According to the report, a buzzing sound was coming from the valve even before the launch.
- Earlier, NASA had said that there is a small helium leak in the thruster of the spacecraft’s service module. The delay in the launch will provide an opportunity to investigate it. Let us tell you that there are many thrusters in a spacecraft. With their help, the spacecraft changes its path and speed. At the same time, due to the presence of helium, pressure is created on the rocket. Its structure remains strong, which helps the rocket in its flight.
- According to a report by British news agency Reuters, since the launch on June 5, there have been 5 helium leaks in the spacecraft capsule. 5 thrusters have stopped working. Apart from this, a propellant valve could not be closed completely. Due to this, the crew present in space and the mission manager sitting in Houston, America, together are not able to fix it. It is taking them more time than expected.
Sunita Williams and Bush Wilmore in the spacecraft.
Was NASA aware of the leak before launch?
A report by American news channel CBS News said that NASA and Boeing knew about the leak of helium in the spacecraft even before the launch on June 5. According to the report, despite this, they did not consider the leak a major threat and did not stop the launch. After this, during the 25-hour flight, when the Starliner reached orbit, helium gas started leaking from 4 more places in it. One thruster malfunctioned.
What options do Sunita Williams and Bush Wilmore have for those stuck in the space station?
Sunita and Wilmore were supposed to un-dock the spacecraft on June 13. This means starting the journey back to Earth from the space station, but this could not happen. After this, on June 19, information came out that the new date for the return of the spacecraft has been fixed as June 26, but then this could not happen. Now it is being said that an attempt will be made to return the astronauts again on July 2.
The spacecraft has only 24 days of fuel left
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft can stay in the space station for only 45 days. It has been about 22 days since the spacecraft docked in the station. The Starliner is connected to the Harmony module of the space station, which has a limited fuel capacity. Therefore, the spacecraft cannot be safely un-docked after 45 days. After the completion of this time limit, arrangements will have to be made to bring Sunita and Wilmore back by another aircraft. In such a situation, SpaceX’s Crew-Dragon and the Russian spacecraft Soyuz can bring both astronauts back to Earth. They have been designed in such a way that they can be launched on time.
It will take 6 hours to return from the space station to Earth
NASA has denied the claims that both astronauts are stranded in space. According to NASA, the spacecraft can still be un-docked. It can also be flown in case of emergency. According to NASA, after un-docking, the spacecraft can fly for 70 hours, while it has to take about 6 to 7 hours of flight to return.
According to NASA, all the necessary things are present in the space station in such a quantity that they can be run for many months. Apart from Sunita and Wilmore, there are 5 more astronauts present in the space station. Therefore, there is no danger to the astronauts at the moment. NASA and Boeing are now analyzing the problems of helium leakage and thruster malfunction before fixing a new date for the return of the astronauts.
BBC report says that the spacecraft’s service module will burn during re-entry. Due to this, it will not be possible to know exactly what went wrong with the spacecraft.
