(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Human Spaceflight


(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Human Spaceflight

(SEPTEMBER-2024)


Human Spaceflight

NASA has recently rescheduled for next year to bring astronauts back from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth. 

Key Details

  • Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which launched on June 5 with astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, is set to make an uncrewed return to Earth on September 6 after a mission fraught with technical challenges.

  • Meanwhile astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore will remain on the ISS until February 2025, when they will return on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

  • During their extended stay on the ISS, Williams and Wilmore have continued their scientific research and maintenance activities.

  • The extended mission has also provided an opportunity to study the long-term effects of space travel on the human body.

  • This decision was made to prioritize their safety, given the unresolved issues with the Starliner such as helium leaks and thruster problems.

About Spaceflight

  • A spaceflight is flight beyond the earth’s atmosphere.

  • In aeronautic and astronautic circles, space begins from the Karman line, which is 100 km above sea level. 

  • Similarly, the force of gravity can be said to be approaching zero several billion kilometres from a massive body but is nonetheless present. This is why the astronauts onboard the ISS experience microgravity, not zero gravity.

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Courtesy: Science Reporter