Sunita Williams breaks record as two ‘stuck’ astronauts take 5.5-hour spacewalk together
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams logged 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalking on Thursday (January 30), surpassing the record for the most time spent in the vacuum of space by a woman.
During a five-and-a-half hour spacewalk with her colleague Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson’s total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes.
NASA announced the historic feat as it said Williams had completed nine spacewalks after the one she undertook on Thursday, while Peggy still has 10 spacewalks under her belt. This means that Whitson still holds the record for the most spacewalks by a woman at 10.
“At 10:24 am central time, this morning, Sunita Williams surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson’s aggregate record of EVA [extravehicular activity] hours…Sunita records keep mounting at each passing time,” a NASA official announced.
Besides, Williams is likely to pass NASA astronaut Jeff Williams in flight time, “putting her in second place behind Peggy Whitson for US astronaut experience.”
Before this mission, Sunita Williams had spent a cumulative total of 322 days in space. Meanwhile, Jeff Williams has had 534 cumulative days in space. After her launch on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, Williams has spent a cumulative total of over 500 days in space. She’s likely to cross Jeff’s tally if she returns from space by late March or early April.
Thursday’s spacewalk
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, NASA’s two “stuck” astronauts, took their first spacewalk together Thursday, exiting the International Space Station almost eight months after moving in. The spacewalk lasted for about 5 hours and 26 minutes.
Thursday’s EVA was Butch Wilmore’s fifth, bringing his total time spacewalking to 31 hours and 2 minutes, Space.com reported.
Commander Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore removed a broken antenna and wiped the station’s exterior for evidence of any microbes that might still be alive after launching from Earth and escaping through vents.
After some initial trouble unbolting the balky antenna, the astronauts finally pried it off nearly four hours after popping out the hatch. Mission Control urged them to watch for any floating parts from the antenna removal.
Two ‘stuck’ astronauts
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5, 2024 for its first crewed flight. The duo was expected to stay in space for just a week when they had arrived at the space station on June 6.
But their brand new ride, Boeing’s Starliner capsule, encountered so much trouble that NASA decided to return it empty.
That left the two test pilots, both retired Navy captains, in orbit until the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft could bring them home. But that won’t happen until late March or early April, extending their mission to 10 months because of a SpaceX delay in launching their replacements.
This left many believe that Sunita and Butch were “stranded” or “stuck” in space. However, NASA and the two astronauts have rubbished the claims, saying they are enjoying their time in space.
Sunita Williams had once said, “This is my happy place. I love being up here in space. It’s fun…it adds a little different perspective.” She said it’s very peaceful in space a lot of times. “It’s really difficult for me to imagine people on Earth not getting along…it’s the one planet we have and we should all really be happy that we are there together…,” she added.
Williams performed a spacewalk two weeks ago with another NASA astronaut Nick Hague. It marked Wilmore’s first time outside this trip. Both racked up spacewalks during previous space station stays.
There have been 274 spacewalks at the International Space Station since December 1998.
