NASA selected Sunita Williams as an astronaut in June 1998, and she and fellow NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore began their spacewalk early that morning.
Their tasks included removing an antenna from the station’s truss segment, preparing a motorized joint for a robotic arm, and gathering surface material samples to check for the presence of organisms outside the orbital laboratory.
It was Wilmore’s fifth spacewalk and the 274th spacewalk supporting the upkeep, upgrades, and assembly of space stations.
What went wrong with the Starliner Mission?
Following an incident with their brand-new Boeing Starliner capsule in June of last year, Williams and Wilmore have been aboard the space station ever since. The retired captains of the Navy had anticipated a week-long stay.
Until SpaceX is able to bring the test pilots home, they will stay in orbit. However, that won’t occur until the end of March or the beginning of April.
How did Sunita Williams break the spacewalk record?
Sunita Williams, a native of Needham, Massachusetts, broke a previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes set by Peggy Whitson in 2017. Whitson is the woman with the most spacewalks. Williams has done nine and Whitson has reached ten, as reported by The Associated Press
Whitson holds the cumulative spaceflight record at 675 days, while Frank Rubio, a NASA astronaut, holds the single spaceflight record at 371 days.
FAQs
Which record did Sunita Williams break?
She now holds the record for the longest total spacewalk time by a woman, 62 hours and six minutes.
Why is she still aboard the ISS?
A technical issue with Boeing’s Starliner delayed her return, extending her stay beyond the one-week mission.
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