NASA’s astronaut Sunita Williams has been stranded in space for over 2 months and NASA is exploring ways to bring her back to Earth safely.
Sunita Williams went to space back in June this year on admission with a plan to come back after a week, but had to extend her stay because of a faulty Starliner spacecraft.
ISRO Chief S. Somanath responded that he was recently asked if India could help bring her back, but he said that at this point, only Russia and the US can help her.
Somanath conveyed through on a podcast named BeerBiceps, “There’s nothing we can do directly from India to help at this moment. We don’t have the capability to send a craft to rescue her,”.
“The only potential solutions would come from either the US or Russia. The US has the Crew Dragon vehicle, and Russia has the Soyuz, both of which could be used for a rescue mission,” Somanath said.
Responding to rumors that NASA astronaut Sunita Williams along with Butch Wilmore have been stranded in space, ISRO Chief expressed his disbelief that the situation is very critical at this time.
The Boeing Starliner has had issues before, even before its launch, leading to several postponements. They ultimately decided to go ahead with the launch, but they are now worried about the risk involved in the return journey, which can be more dangerous than the launch itself.
The Boeing Starliner has been conducting ground test to prove the spacecraft’s safety, but it seems the result and clearances are still pending.
The Starliner’s faulty propulsion system is a major issue, raising safety concerns for a crewed return flight.
NASA officials indicated a decision regarding the astronauts fate is imminent starting with “We really should be making a call, if not sooner” by the end of August.
NASA is scheduled to bring back astronauts on Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission in late September, but they will return to Crew-9 early next year.