Astronaut Sunita Williams and her crewmate Butch Wilmore successfully docked the Boeing Starliner with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday. This marks a significant milestone as the 59-year-old Indian-origin astronaut became the first woman to pilot and test a new crewed spacecraft on its maiden voyage.
Upon arriving at the ISS, Williams celebrated with a joyful dance and embraced the seven other astronauts on board. This mission was particularly meaningful for Williams, as it was her third trip to space, during which she carried an idol of Lord Ganesh and a copy of the Bhagavad Gita.
As part of a long-standing ISS tradition, Williams and Wilmore were greeted by the ringing of a bell, according to an NDTV report. Reflecting on her exuberant dance, Williams remarked, "That’s the way to get things going," and expressed gratitude to her crewmates for their warm welcome, calling them "another family."
The duo made history as the first crew to fly the Starliner, successfully docking it 26 hours after launching from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Both Williams and Wilmore, retired Navy captains and former ISS residents, had expressed strong confidence in Boeing's capabilities before the launch. The Starliner had faced challenges in its initial uncrewed test flight in 2019 due to software issues, requiring a repeat mission in 2022 which went smoother despite subsequent parachute and tape problems.
Boeing was contracted alongside Elon Musk’s SpaceX a decade ago to transport NASA astronauts to and from the ISS. This initiative followed the retirement of the space shuttles, with NASA investing $4.2 billion in Boeing and just over half that in SpaceX. SpaceX achieved a milestone in 2020 by launching astronauts into orbit, becoming the first private company to do so, a feat previously accomplished only by Russia, the US, and China. SpaceX has since conducted nine NASA missions and three private charters for a Houston-based company.
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