Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams has been stranded for over seven months at the International Space Station (ISS) since June after technical issues delayed what was supposed to be an eight-day space mission.
The 59-year-old astronaut has been trapped with her colleague Butch Wilmore since last June after the Boeing Starliner capsule experienced mechanical issues and had to return without them. NASA had already roped in Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help facilitate the return of Williams and Wilmore.
Williams opened up about some of the things she had not done for months. “I’ve been up here long enough right now I’ve been trying to remember what it’s like to walk. I haven’t walked. I haven’t sat down. You don’t have to. You can just close your eyes and float where you are right here,” People Magazine quoted her speaking to Needham High School students.
A Needham native herself, Williams also told students that her extended time in space came as a “little bit of a shock”. “We knew that it would be probably a month or so, honestly. But the extended stay was just a little bit different,” she said, according to CBS affiliate WBZ-TV.
The two astronauts celebrated multiple holidays in space, including Thanksgiving and Christmas — and in January, Williams went for her first spacewalk since arriving at the ISS. The duo even voted for the 2024 US elections from space through a process made “very easy” by NASA, Wilmore said.
During their approach to the ISS in June, five of the 28 thrusters of the Starliner spacecraft carrying Williams and Wilmore failed, which extended their trip from days to months in space. Their extended delay fuelled health conditions as pictures showed Williams undergoing a drastic weight loss.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has sought tech billionaire Elon Musk and his SpaceX’s help to “go get” the two “brave” astronauts who have been “virtually abandoned” by the Biden administration.
NASA had already roped in SpaceX to help facilitate the return of Williams and Wilmore. In August, the American space agency announced that it had asked SpaceX to use its Crew-9 capsule, which was scheduled to launch in September.
Musk’s latest post suggested that the Crew Dragon capsule “Freedom” may make an early departure from the ISS, with Wilmore and Williams onboard.
The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.
