Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams is all set for her third voyage into space on Tuesday as she assumes command of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on its maiden crewed test flight.
Departing from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US, the spacecraft will carry Williams, 58, and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station (ISS), marking a potential breakthrough for Boeing's program, which has grappled with delays in development. The launch is scheduled for 22:34 local time on Monday (03:34 BST on Tuesday).
"We are all here because we are all ready. Our friends and family have heard about it and we've talked about it, and they are happy and proud that we are part of the process to fix it all," shared Williams, as reported by the BBC.
The mission's progression has been delayed by setbacks in spacecraft development over the years. However, the successful execution of this mission would affirm Starliner as the second private entity capable of crew transport to and from the ISS, alongside SpaceX.
"This is history in the making," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during a March 22 news conference. "We're now in the golden era of space exploration."
Both SpaceX and Boeing have crafted their spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Crew Programme, with the overarching goal of concurrent operations to ensure redundancy in crew transport capabilities.
"Design and development is hard — particularly with a human space vehicle," said Mark Nappi, vice president and Starliner program manager at Boeing, during a recent news briefing.
"There's a number of things that were surprises along the way that we had to overcome. … It certainly made the team very, very strong. I'm very proud of how they've overcome every single issue that we've encountered and gotten us to this point," Nappi said.
Williams, a former Ensign in the United States Navy, earned her commission from the United States Naval Academy in May 1987. Subsequently selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998, Williams boasts extensive experience, having participated in two prior space missions.
During Expedition 14/15, launched on December 9, 2006, she established a world record for females with four spacewalks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes. Williams also commanded Expedition 33 and has accrued a cumulative total of 322 days in space.
"I am thrilled to be part of this mission and contribute to the ongoing advancements in space exploration," Williams said.
Damian Talbot