Return of Sunita Williams: Is space travel so difficult?

Why did Williams spend so long in space?

The mission in a Boeing spacecraft of Williams and partner NASA’s astronaut Buch Wilmor has finally ended and they are safely returned to Earth. A leaked propulsion tank and faulty thrusters in Boeing Starlineer threw the return plan from the schedule. The later human spacecraft was to be dedicated to the stranded astronauts, which took time due to the natural time disarray challenges. SpaceX -run Elon Musk claimed that he had offered “Williams back” more than six months ago, but NASA’s administrator Bill Nelson denied it. Between this political slugfest and engineering failure, Williams and Wilmore spent more than nine months in space. Eventually, SpaceX’s crew Dragon flew Williams and Wilmore safely on Earth – an achievement that underlines how far the protection of space missions in the last two decades.

Has Williams broken a record for a human in space?

No. The Russian Spacefare Valerie Polycova spent a total of 437 days riding at the now-carried Mir Space Station, built in the Soviet era of the first space race between 1994 and 1995. For the US, Frank Rubio in space spent 371 days in space from September 2022- the longest American living in space. Williams, with Wilmor, now the sixth longest space residents for the US are the longest spacecrafts-and 10 out of 10 out of 10 of the world’s 10 longest astronauts. Veteran Russian cosmonott Oleg Cononenko has the longest space period about 1,111 days of his life in space. Very long tenure is usually avoided by space agencies, as a long -term stay affects the functioning of the body and brain, causing muscle loss and changes in vision.

Is India on track with its human mission?

Yes. This year, the Gaganan Mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is expected to conduct its first unmanned test mission with the module of its indigenous crew in an attempt to validate India’s own space technology. By 2026, four Indian astronauts are expected to fly from India’s spacecraft and from Indian territory – only an achievement managed by the Soviet Union, America and China. A moon landing is planned by 2040.

Is space travel difficult for us?

Despite the first spacecraft of Russian Cosmonott Yuri Gagarin in April 1961, human missions remain challenging. Errors and oversights can give birth to tragedies such as NASA’s 1986 Mission Challenger that exploded after takeoff, and rode in Colombia in the 2003 mission, which exploded while trying to kill Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian original woman in space, Kalpana Chawla. Human spaceflights require failure-saffs to handle giant forces on the space shuttle, and zero-gurutshans work in a state of zero-oxygen. At the same time, the space tourism is choosing speed.

What is at stake for nations?

Space control is a geopolitical race. Sending humans into space will also give nations the ability to complete space reconnaissance and engineering activities for defense forces and research. China has used its space program to strengthen its place in the global Peking order. Placed uncertainly with Russia, India’s Gaganan can increase its weight as an associate for the West in Asia. However, it is also expensive to send humans into space along with engineering challenges. All this, while missions become more ambitious than day. Gaganan can put another wing in India’s space cap.