NASA astronaut Sunita 'Suni' Williams surpassed a major milestone this week, when she broke the record for total spacewalking time held by former astronaut Peggy Whitson.
Williams was outside the ISS during the spacewalk to maintain the station's hardware and collect surface material samples from Destiny laboratory and Quest airlock for analysis. This spacewalk was part of Expedition 72, and it began at approximately 8 am EST. NASA live-streamed the event on YouTube and their official website, marking the 92nd US spacewalk.
Williams, who was wearing the suit with red stripes, was joined by astronaut Butch Wilmore, who wore the unmarked suit. This was Wilmore's fifth spacewalk and Williams' ninth. 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.
Earlier in the week, SpaceX founder Elon Musk had stirred up controversy by commenting 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, prompting Musk to say on X: "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."
However, the characterisation of Wilmore and Williams as "stranded" has been disputed. While the astronauts' return was delayed, they were never in danger, and their return could have happened at any time through a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Wilmore and Williams have been scheduled to return on the Crew 9 mission at the end of March 2025, completing nearly 300 days in space.
(ANI)