Looking forward to seeing you in India: PM Modi writes to Sunita

Chennai:  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA)’s SpaceX Crew-9, comprising India-born Woman Astronaut Sunita Williams and three others, completed the agency’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station (ISS), splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of America on early this morning at 3.27 am (IST).,

In a press release on its website, NASA said its astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth at 5.57 pm EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved spacecraft and its crew.

Upon returning to shore, the crew will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and reunite with their families. “We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations and maintenance aboard the ISS,” said.

“Per President Trump’s direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier. This international crew and our teams embraced the Trump Administration’s challenge of an updated, somewhat unique, mission plan to bring our crew home. Through preparation, ingenuity and dedication, we achieve great things together for the benefit of humanity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars”, it said.

Lift off on Sept. 28, 2024

Hague and Gorbunov lifted off at 1.17 pm Sept. 28, 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The next day, they docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on June 5, 2024, from Space Launch Complex 41 as part of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test.

The duo arrived at the space station on June 6. In August, NASA announced the uncrewed return of Starliner to Earth and integrated Wilmore and Williams as part of the space station’s Expedition 71/72 for a return on Crew-9.

The crew of four undocked at 1.05 am Tuesday to begin the trip home. Williams and Wilmore travelled 121,347,491 miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth.

Hague and Gorbunov travelled 72,553,920 miles during their mission, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits around Earth. The Crew-9 mission was Gorbunov’s first spaceflight. Hague has logged 374 days in space over his two missions, Williams has logged 608 days in space over her 3 flights and Wilmore has logged 464 days in space over his 3 flights.

Science and maintenance activities

Throughout its mission, Crew-9 contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Sunita Williams conducted two spacewalks, joined by Wilmore for one and Hague for another, removing a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collecting samples from the station’s external surface for analysis, installing patches to cover damaged areas of light filters on an X-ray telescope, and more.

She now holds the record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut, with 62 hours and six minutes outside of the station, and is fourth on the all-time spacewalk duration list. American crew members conducted more than 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations between them, with over 900 hours of research.

This research included investigations on plant growth and quality, as well as the potential of stem cell technology to address blood diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancers.

They also tested lighting systems to help astronauts maintain circadian rhythms, loaded the first wooden satellite for deployment, and took samples from the space station’s exterior to study whether microorganisms can survive in space.

PM Modi writes to Sunita

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a heartfelt letter to NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, inviting her to visit India as two astronauts stuck in orbit for nine months finally departed the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX capsule on Tuesday, kicking off their long-awaited voyage home.

“Even though you are thousands of miles away, you continue to remain close to our hearts. The people of India are praying for your good health and success in your mission,” Modi wrote.

“Bonnie Pandya must be keenly awaiting your return and I am sure that Late Deepakbhai’s blessings are with you as well. I fondly remember meeting him along with you during my visit to the United States in 2016. After your return, we are looking forward to seeing you in India. It will be a pleasure for India to host one of its most illustrious daughters.” Modi wrote.

Longest record stay of 437 days in space

Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov holds the world record for the longest single spaceflight in history in 1995, spending 437 days, 17 hours, and 38 minutes in space and orbiting the Earth 7,075 times, according to sources.

At the age of 46, he launched to the Mir space station aboard Soyuz TM-6 on Aug. 29, 1988 — 16 years after becoming a Soviet cosmonaut in 1972. He was accompanied by fellow Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Lyakhov and Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan’s first astronaut.

For his record-setting second mission, Polyakov was aboard Mir for 14 months, beginning on Jan. 8, 1994. Across 25 experiments and investigations, he studied the physical and cognitive functions of rotating crews from Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany and the US.

On March 22, 1995, Polyakov boarded the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft, alongside Aleksandr Viktorenko and Yelena Kondakova, to return to Earth.