Producer: Mehak Pal Editor: Sujata Singh
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams scripts history by becoming the first woman to fly to space aboard the Boeing Starliner’s first crewed mission.
The 59-year-old Williams lifted off Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on the Atlas 5 rocket at 8:22 pm (IST) from the Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Starliner mission aims to carry astronauts and cargo for future NASA missions to low Earth orbit, and beyond.
According to NASA, “the Starliner has been designed for astronauts by astronauts and is the most modern crew module ever to be flown.”
The nearly 10-day mission will help the Starliner prove its space-worthiness.
Today, the US has three crewed spacecraft simultaneously in orbit – the Boeing Starliner, the SpaceX Crew Dragon, and the International Space Station.
The Boeing Starliner is Sunita Williams’ third space flight.
While Williams is piloting the flight, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore is commanding it.