Sunita Williams’s space mission extended. It has nothing to do with ‘superbug’

In a development that will prolong her historic journey, Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams and her crewmate Butch Wilmore have been informed they will remain aboard the International Space Station (ISS) until June 18.

However, as per many reports of the discovery of a ‘superbug’ on the space station, the extension has nothing to do with it. The paper detailing the discovery was published in April, long before Williams docked on the flying laboratory.

The extension comes as Nasa seeks additional time to thoroughly evaluate the systems of Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft, which transported Williams and Wilmore to the orbiting laboratory on June 5th.

Williams, who became the first woman to pilot a new spacecraft on its inaugural crewed mission, and Wilmore were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 10 after a week-long stay. However, Nasa has decided to capitalise on their presence to conduct further checkouts and tests on the Starliner capsule, a crucial step in certifying it for regular crewed flights to the ISS.

“The extra days in space will allow teams more time to checkout Starliner’s systems and free up the Expedition crew’s schedule for more spacewalk preparations,” Nasa officials stated, referring to upcoming extravehicular activities planned by the station’s resident crew.

The two visiting astronauts wasted no time getting to work on Monday, with Wilmore performing computer maintenance inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox, while Williams installed hardware to support an upcoming space fire investigation.

For Williams, a veteran of two previous space shuttle missions totaling 322 days in orbit, the extension offers an opportunity to further etch her name in the annals of space exploration.

During her expeditions aboard the ISS in 2006-2007 and 2012, she set records for most spacewalks (7) and spacewalk time (50 hours, 40 minutes) by a woman, before being surpassed by Peggy Whitson.

The prolonged stay also allows Williams to continue celebrating her Indian-Slovenian heritage in space, having carried samosas and other cultural items aboard the Starliner.