NASA astronaut Sunita Williams achieved a major feat on January 30. She broke the record held earlier by former astronaut Peggy Whitson by setting a new spacewalking record. In a post on X, the International Space Station (ISS) shared that Williams surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson's total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes. Both Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore came out of the International Space Station (ISS) for a 5.5-hour spacewalk on Thursday.
During the spacewalk, which was part of Expedition 72, Williams was outside the ISS to maintain the station's hardware. She also collected surface material samples from the Destiny laboratory and Quest airlock for analysis.
The spacewalk began at approximately 8 am EST, and NASA live-streamed the event on YouTube and their official website, marking the 92nd US spacewalk.
While Williams was wearing the suit with red stripes, Butch Wilmore donned the unmarked suit. It was Sunita Williams' ninth spacewalk and Wilmore's fifth. The spacewalk was expected to last about six and a half hours. Both astronauts arrived at the ISS in 2024 as part of Expedition 72, which began on September 23.
Why was Williams' return to earth postponed?
Earlier in the week, SpaceX founder Elon Musk commented on the situation surrounding two astronauts, including Wilmore and Williams, who have been aboard the ISS since June 2024. Due to technical delays with their Boeing Starliner capsule, their return to Earth was postponed.
In his post on X, Musk said, "The President has asked SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the ISS as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long."
Trump asks Musk to bring astronauts back
Trump slammed the Biden administration for what he called the "abandonment" of the astronauts as he wrote on Truth Social, "I have asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to go get the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden administration. They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!"
However, there's a debate in the US regarding the characterisation of Wilmore and Williams as "stranded" as their was delayed, they were reportedly never in danger.
(With inputs from ANI)
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