Sunita Williams' 3rd Space Mission Postponed Till THIS Date | Details Here

New Delhi: Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams will now head to space no earlier than May 17, NASA said days after her third space mission was aborted before liftoff.

The American space agency has postponed the date for the second time after Williams’ and Nasa's Butch Wilmore's flight to space was abruptly halted in the final hours of liftoff due to a technical snag.

Following the tech glitch, NASA had announced May 10 as the new launch date. Due to concerns over the spacecraft's safety, the date has been further pushed to May 17 as the rocket needs more work. The oscillating behavior of the valve during prelaunch operations, had ultimately led to the postponement of the mission on May 6. The rocket has been manufactured by United Launch Alliance.

Making the announcement on social media platform X, NASA Commercial Crew wrote, “#Starliner launch update: NASA, @BoeingSpace and @ULALaunch are now targeting no earlier than 6:16pm ET May 17 for the launch of the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test to @Space_Station, following a valve replacement on ULA's Atlas V rocket: https://go.nasa.gov/3ycJneo (sic).”

"Following a thorough data review completed on Tuesday, the rocket manufacturer decided to replace a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage.

"After evaluating the valve history, data signatures from the launch attempt, and assessing the risks relative to continued use, the ULA team determined the valve exceeded its qualification and mission managers agreed to remove and replace the valve," Nasa said in a blog post.
 

Why Williams' 3rd Mission To Space Was Called Off 

The decision to postpone was made after NASA identified an off-nominal condition with the oxygen relief valve, prompting concerns about the spacecraft's safety. As a precautionary measure, both Williams and her fellow astronaut, Barry Wilmore, who were slated to pilot the Starliner to the International Space Station, exited the spacecraft without incident. This mission held significant promise, as Williams was poised to make history as the first woman to embark on the maiden crewed mission of a new space shuttle.

Sunita Williams And Her Spaceflights

During her first spaceflight, Expedition 14/15, Williams was launched with the crew of STS-116 on December 9, 2006, docking with the International Space Station on December 11, 2006. While onboard, she established a world record for females with four spacewalks totalling 29 hours and 17 minutes. Astronaut Peggy Whitson subsequently broke the record in 2008 with a total of five spacewalks. 

On Expedition 32/33, Williams was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, along with Russian Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, on July 14, 2012. Williams spent four months conducting research and exploration aboard the orbiting laboratory. 

She landed in Kazakhstan on November 18, 2012, after spending 127 days in space. During their Expedition, Williams and Hoshide performed three spacewalks to replace a component that relays power from the space station’s solar arrays to its systems and repair an ammonia leak on a station radiator. With 50 hours and 40 minutes, Williams once again held the record for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut. The record has since been overtaken by Peggy Whitson. Williams has spent a cumulative total of 322 days in space. 

Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio, to Indian-American neuroanatomist Deepak Pandya and Slovene-American Ursuline Bonnie (Zalokar) Pandya.
She holds a physical science degree from the US Naval Academy and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology. 
Williams received her commission as an Ensign in the United States Navy from the United States Naval Academy in May 1987.
Williams was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998 and is a veteran of two space missions, Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33.
She served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33.