NASA’s Crew-10 mission, set to lift off on March 12, has also recently had its SpaceX Dragon capsule arrive at the launch site. On Monday, NASA and SpaceX rehearsed the launch of the Crew-10 mission, which is in March. Hopes have arisen with this mission that Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams and her partner Barry Wilmore will soon return to Earth from space. NASA states that both will return to Earth at the end of March. They have spent around nine months in space.
The Indian-origin Sunita Williams and the American Barry Wilmore made an eight-day space trip starting June 5, 2024, however, they were stuck in the space station for nine months. The Starliner aircraft flew both the passengers to the International Space Station and is now back on Earth. Due to a technical fault, this spacecraft returned to Earth without any astronaut.
NASA mission on which Sunita went
On June 5, 2024, NASA launched its Boeing Crew Flight Test Mission, sending its astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore on an eight-day trip. This was the mission where two NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore, were sent on an eight-day trip via the Starliner spacecraft. It was the first manned flight of the Starliner spacecraft to the ISS. This mission, involving Sunita and Barry, is under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA aims to conduct safe, reliable, and affordable human missions from the U.S. to the International Space Station in partnership with U.S. private industries. The purpose of this test mission was to meet this goal.
What was the aim of the crew flight test?
The purpose of the mission was to demonstrate Starliner’s capability to execute a six-month rotational mission with the space station. For that, the crew flight test was intended to put to the test its readiness for long-duration missions, along with gathering all the necessary performance data.
What occurred to the Starliner aircraft with passengers on board?
Some thrusters during Starliner’s flight to the space station did not perform as well as hoped. The ‘thrusters’ are usually called weak rocket motors. The weak performance of the thrusters was not the only problem, as there were several leaks in the helium system of Starliner. NASA and Boeing gathered so much information about the spacecraft through thorough analysis of data. This inquiry was joined by institutions established after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. This tragedy occurred on February 1, 2003, while the Columbia was coming back to Earth. The entire crew of seven of the fateful mission ended up on the list of those who died in this accident, among whom was Kalpana Chawla, of Indian origin. After posing the questions of why it happened, it was decided the Starliner would be returned to Earth uncrewed. The Starliner flew back to Earth on September 6, 2024, and the flight was without a crew.
What is happening as of now?
On March 12, the Crew-10 launch will be conducted from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The day after that, Crew-10 should rendezvous with the ISS on the 13th of March. When the members of ‘Crew-10’ arrive on the International Space Station, the four astronauts aboard will give way to the Crew-10 team. This exchange process will, however, take one week. After that, Williams and her mates will embark back home. According to NASA, these astronauts could come back to Earth between March 19 and 20. This mission is called Crew-9.
