Rahul Singh
Sunita Williams Returns Home After Historic Space Mission
After completing yet another groundbreaking space mission, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has safely returned to Earth. Known for her remarkable achievements in space exploration, Williams has once again made history with her dedication and perseverance.
As one of the most accomplished astronauts, she holds records for the longest spacewalk time by a woman and has played a pivotal role in numerous International Space Station (ISS) missions.
Her return marks the end of an incredible journey filled with scientific research, spacewalks, and collaborative international efforts. Family, friends, and space enthusiasts worldwide are celebrating her safe arrival, acknowledging the significant contributions she has made to space science and exploration. Sunita Williams continues to inspire millions with her courage, determination, and passion for space travel.
Sunita Williams
Hours after Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth after spending 286 days on the International Space Station, the White House blamed the previous Joe Biden administration’s lack of readiness for the NASA Crew-9 astronauts’ extended stay, which was originally planned for a week.
US White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt during her press briefing on Wednesday (local time) said that the rescue of Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov was a historic mission under US President Donald Trump.
“This historic mission gives new meaning to President Trump’s promise that he will always look for the forgotten man and woman,” Caroline Leavitt said. Criticising the Joe Biden administration, Levitt said, “Due to the Biden administration’s lack of readiness, they (astronauts) were forced to spend nine months in space.
Joe Biden’s lack of courage and determination to act decisively was a big reason why Butch and Sunita were not able to return until yesterday. But President Trump does not waste time. Immediately after taking office, President Trump directed Elon Musk and SpaceX to work with NASA to rescue these brave astronauts,” he said. Levitt said that Donald Trump personally called the NASA chief and Elon Musk to prioritise the mission to bring back the astronauts.
The US White House press secretary said that the President is looking forward to welcoming them to the Oval Office once they are medically cleared. “The President also called NASA’s Acting Administrator and asked her to bring the astronauts back home as quickly as possible.
As Acting Administrator Janet Petro said yesterday, as directed by President Trump, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to prepare the schedule a month ahead of schedule. The President looks forward to welcoming Butch and Sunita to the Oval Office when they recover,” she added.
‘We offered to bring the astronauts back earlier’: Elon Musk
In an interview with Fox News, Elon Musk claimed that SpaceX offered Joe Biden’s administration to bring the two astronauts back earlier, but it was “declined for political reasons”.
“We certainly offered to bring the astronauts back earlier. There’s no question about that. The astronauts were only supposed to be there for eight days and they’ve been there for almost 10 months. Obviously, that doesn’t make sense. SpaceX could have brought the astronauts back a few months later and we made that offer to the Biden administration. It was rejected for political reasons and that’s a fact,” he said.
Back to Earth
For Sunita Williams, the eight-day mission to the ISS turned out to be the challenge of a lifetime as her Boeing spaceflight experienced some problems that forced her to stay in orbit for more than nine months.
Williams and Wilmore bid goodbye to the ISS, their home since last June, as they departed aboard a SpaceX capsule with two other astronauts.
The capsule separated from the space station on Tuesday and landed on the Florida coast on Wednesday morning after spending 286 days in space. This was Williams’ third spaceflight and she has spent a total of 608 days in space.
