The NASA Sunita astronauts “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore have been on the international space station since June, even if they were initially expected to stay eight days. They will be back on earth at the end of March.
But because their stay was extended, Williams set a new record on Thursday. She went to a 5 hour and 26 -minute space walk with Wilmore, and with this walk, passed the record set by a woman for the time spent on space balls. According to Space.comWilliams now has 62 hours and 6 minutes of extension in space, exceeding the old astronaut Peggy Whitson, who had 60 hours and 21 minutes.
On this last space march, the two worked to finally remove a defective radio-communization unit, one that astronauts on two previous space balls could not be removed.
Williams has previously associated himself with astronaut Nick Hague for a spacewalk on January 16. On this space march, Williams and The Hague replaced a rate gyroscope assembly that helps maintain the orbital outpost orientation, NASA said. Astronauts also installed fixes to cover the damaged areas of light filters on the X -ray interior composition telescope of the star neutrons, replaced a reflector device on one of the international and verified mooring adapters Access areas and connector tools that astronauts will use the future Magnetic spectrometer for future alpha maintenance.
The NASA Suni Williams astronaut is seen outside the international space station on January 16, 2025, Spacewalk.
Trump and musk
Astronauts should go home in March. But that might not be fast enough for President Donald Trump.
“I just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to” go “the 2 courageous astronauts who were practically abandoned in space by the Biden administration,” wrote Trump on Truth Social, According to NPR. “Good luck Elon !!!”
Astronauts are far from abandoned. The delay was caused because the NASA and Boeing engineers discovered problems with the spacecraft that brought astronauts to space and chose to return this vehicle to the land without crew.
And we do not know what Musk could do, because the two should already go home on a capsule manufactured by his company, SpaceX, and this capsule is already anchored at the ISS. So, technically, astronauts could go home at any time, but that would leave the space station in the short term and would endanger projects, says NPR. .
“Finally, we want to go home,” said Williams in a Recent press conference. “We left our families a little time ago, but we have a lot to do here and we have to do these things before leaving.”
The return of February is now March
Recently, NASA rejected the return of Williams and Wilmore to Earth from February to the end of March.
“NASA and SpaceX have evaluated various options to manage the transfer to the following crew, including the use of another dragon space and manifest settings”, according to A NASA press release published on December 17. “After special attention, the team determined that the launch of the crew-10 in late March, after the end of the new Dragon spaceship, was the best option to meet the requirements of NASA and reach the objectives of the Space station for 2025.
The delay is that the NASA and SpaceX teams can do work on the new Mission Dragon Space Vessel. This new craftsmanship will launch four crew members at ISS – Commander Anne McClain, Commander, Pilot Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Once the new crew was settled, Williams, Wilmore, the Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will return to Earth.
But Williams and Wilmore do not complain about their prolonged stay.
“I like everything to be here,” Williams said At the beginning of December. “Living in space is super fun.”
Astronauts are busy, Williams and Wilmore helping other ISS residents in spatial botany studies and other research, According to the Iss de la Nasa blog. They helped more than 60 scientific studies during their almost six months on board, The Washington Post reports.
Here’s what you need to know about what both astronauts do.
Who are astronauts?
Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, are veteran astronauts and are both naval officers and former test pilots. Williams has been a NASA astronaut since 1998 and Wilmore since 2000. The two have a lot of experience in space.
Williams is the former record holder for most space bullets by a woman (seven) and most of the spatial time for a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes), and in 2007, she ran the first marathon by anyone in space.
In 2009, Wilmore piloted the Atlantis space shuttle during its mission to the ISS, and in 2014, it was part of the ISS crew which used a 3D printer to make a tool – a ratchet key – In space, the first time that humans have been made something out of the world.
What was their original mission in space?
Wilmore, as commander, and Williams, as a pilot, went to the ISS on a 15 -foot, Boeing, called Starliner capsule. They were launched on June 5 and moored with the ISS on June 6. NASA hopes that Starliner will give the organization a new way of bringing the crews to and from the ISS, and the fact that it is made by Boeing is another sign that NASA begins to look into the private sector For its human space flight options, the New York Times reported.
The ISS mission of Wilmore and Williams was supposed to last only eight days, during which they would test the aspects of Starliner and see how it works with a human crew in space. But due to complications with Starliner, the two astronauts are still up there.
What do astronauts say?
Astronauts were positive about their experience. To one Live press conference In September, Williams said that despite the fact that their mission was to take only eight days, they had both been “training for several years” for this. They are fully qualified to stay in space for a long time and to help pilot the Dragon Spacex spacecraft that will bring them home next year.
“It’s very peaceful here,” said Williams on September 13, although she added that they were missing their family on Earth.
Astronauts work on research, maintenance and analysis of data during their extended stay.
“We have a good time here on the ISS,” said Williams In a press conference held orbit in July. “I don’t complain. Butch does not complain that we are here for a few additional weeks.”
Wilmore and Williams answered the media questions in March.
How did they have been stuck in space in the first place?
The Starliner was delayed in May due to a problem with a valve in the rocket. Then the engineers had to repair a helium leak. This is bad news for Boeing. He competes with SpaceX, who has been transporting astronauts to the ISS since 2020, making more than 20 successful trips to the space station.
Starliner finally launched, at the top of an Atlas V rocket on June 5, but some problems accompanied him. NASA has announced that Three helium leaks were identified, one of which was known before the flight, and two new ones. In addition to leaks, the crew had to help off the defaulting control propellers, although the profession was able to agree with the ISS.
SpaceX also had failures. A Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch in 2016. In July of this year, a Falcon 9 rocket experienced a liquid oxygen leak and deployed its satellites in bad orbit, the New York Times reported. And a Falcon 9 rocket at the end of August lost a booster on the first floor when it overturned in the Atlantic Ocean and caught fire.
But that said, SpaceX has more than 300 successful Falcon 9 flights to his credit.
Stuck in space: a chronology
- May: The launch of Starliner is delayed due to a problem with a valve in the rocket, then a helium leak.
- June 5: Starliner is launched with Williams and Wilmore on board.
- June 6: Starliner grants the ISS despite the treatment of three helium leaks and failed control propellants.
- September 6: Starliner leaves the ISS and the lands to the New Mexico, leaving Williams and Wilmore behind.
- September 28: SpaceX Crew-9 Mission is launched with The Hague and Gorbunov on a dragon spacecraft.
- September 29: Docks Dragon Spacex with ISS.
- December 17: NASA announces that the launch of four crew members at the ISS will be delayed from February to the end of March.
- March 2025 In advance: SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft will return to Earth with Williams, Wilmore, Haye and Gorbunov.
