Sunita Williams Kalpana Chawla NASA: Sunita Williams has been stuck in space for a long time. Butch Wilmore is also there with her. NASA has given the reason why there is a delay in bringing them back from space. The decision to bring them back is also related to another Indian-origin astronaut. That astronaut was Kalpana Chawla. On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle returning with Kalpana Chawla turned into a fireball as soon as it entered the orbit of the earth. There were six other astronauts in this space shuttle. Before that, on January 26, 1986, 14 astronauts lost their lives due to the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Now NASA is worried that Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s haste may cost them their lives. This is the reason why NASA is treading cautiously in this matter. Let us tell you that Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck in space for the last eight months.
NASA chief Bill Nelson said that these two accidents are having a great impact on our decisions. This is why we decided to bring back the Boeing Starliner empty. Nelson himself is an astronaut and has been a part of the investigation into the earlier two accidents. He said that NASA had made some mistakes. Nelson said that NASA’s culture was such that even when junior flight engineers talked about danger, they were not heard. Today people are encouraged to speak their mind. This is why NASA has decided that Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmer will be brought back in February 2025. He said that this is a unanimous decision.
The NASA chief said that spaceflight is full of dangers. Even the safest and most regular flights are dangerous. He said that this is the reason why Butch and Sunita are currently kept on the International Space Station. On June 6, when the Starliner spacecraft reached near the space station, engineers felt some problems in it. Problems were seen in the control thrusters along with helium leak. Due to this, Starliner was sent back empty. NASA had said in a statement that uncertainty and lack of consensus of experts is against our safety standards for human spacecraft. Now Starliner will return to Earth on September 6.
Kalpana Chawla died in the skies over South America when the space shuttle Columbia and its crew members separated during re-entry, 16 minutes before the scheduled landing. Kalpana Chawla studied at Tagore School in Karnal, Haryana in 1976. She then obtained a BSc degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in 1982. After completing further education in the US, she joined NASA as an astronaut in 1994.
