Close X
Sunday, January 12, 2025
ADVT 
International

Sunita Williams Among 9 Astronauts Named By NASA For Human Spaceflight

IANS, 03 Aug, 2018 12:18 PM
    Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams is among the nine astronauts named by NASA on Friday for its first human spaceflight programme since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.
     
     
    The astronauts will fly on spacecarft developed by SpaceX and Boeing as part of the the US space agency's Commercial Crew programme to send humans to the International Space Station (ISS) on private US spacecraft.
     
     
    Williams has been named for the Boeing programme to the ISS, the first test flight scheduled to take place in the middle of 2019.
     
     
    "For the first time since 2011, we are on the brink of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said while announcing the names of the astronauts.
     
     
    In 2014, Boeing and SpaceX were awarded a combined $6.8 billion in contracts from NASA to develop spacecraft capable of flying crews to the space station, The Washington Post reported.
     
     
    NASA on Thursday confirmed a delay in the first piloted flights of Boeing and SpaceX.
     
     
    SpaceX is targeting November 2018 for Crew Dragon's first uncrewed demonstration mission (Demo-1), three months later than the previous schedule released by NASA early this year. The crewed demonstration flight, with two astronauts on board, will follow in April 2019, four months later than previously announced.
     
     
    Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, on the other hand, will likely perform two crucial test flights next year, instead of this year as planned. 
     
     
    Each test flight will provide data on the performance of the rockets, spacecraft, ground systems, and operations to ensure the systems are safe to fly astronauts. 
     
     
    The crew for Boeing's Crew Flight Test and SpaceX's Demo-2 flights will each include at least a flight commander and pilot aboard to test out the systems.
     
     
    After successful completion of the flight tests with crew, NASA will review flight data to verify the systems meet the agency's safety and performance certification requirements and are ready to begin regular servicing missions to the space station, the US space agency said.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Indian-Origin Teacher Rahul Odedra Jailed For Filming In UK School Toilets

    Indian-Origin Teacher Rahul Odedra Jailed For Filming In UK School Toilets
    An Indian-origin science teacher has been jailed for over four years after he pleaded guilty to placing cameras in toilets of three schools where he worked in southwest England.

    Indian-Origin Teacher Rahul Odedra Jailed For Filming In UK School Toilets

    UK Court Jails Pakistani Man For Life For Rape-Murder Of Indian-Origin Niece

    UK Court Jails Pakistani Man For Life For Rape-Murder Of Indian-Origin Niece
    A 33-year-old British-Pakistani man was today sentenced to life imprisonment by a UK court which found him guilty of kidnapping, raping and murdering his 20-year-old Indian-origin niece.

    UK Court Jails Pakistani Man For Life For Rape-Murder Of Indian-Origin Niece

    Donald Trump Slams India Over Harley-Davidson Import Tariffs, Threatens ‘Reciprocal Tax’

    Donald Trump Slams India Over Harley-Davidson Import Tariffs, Threatens ‘Reciprocal Tax’
    Donald Trump said the recent decision of the Indian government to reduce the tariff from 75 per cent to 50 per cent was not enough and asked that it should be reciprocal, as the US imposes "zero tax" on the import of motorcycles.

    Donald Trump Slams India Over Harley-Davidson Import Tariffs, Threatens ‘Reciprocal Tax’

    Indian-Origin Malaysian On Death Row In Singapore Wins Acquittal

    Indian-Origin Malaysian On Death Row In Singapore Wins Acquittal
    A Malaysia-based Indian-origin man, on death row for drug possession in Singapore, has been acquitted by the country's Supreme Court.

    Indian-Origin Malaysian On Death Row In Singapore Wins Acquittal

    Merit-Based Immigration Will End Green Card Backlog: White House

    Merit-Based Immigration Will End Green Card Backlog: White House
    Indian-Americans, most of whom are highly skilled and come to the US mainly on H-1B work visas, are the worst sufferers of the current immigration

    Merit-Based Immigration Will End Green Card Backlog: White House

    Police Confirm Man In Custody After Winnipeg Couple Found Dead In Jamaica

    Police Confirm Man In Custody After Winnipeg Couple Found Dead In Jamaica
    WINNIPEG — Police in Jamaica say they have made an arrest in the deaths of a husband and wife from Winnipeg a month ago.

    Police Confirm Man In Custody After Winnipeg Couple Found Dead In Jamaica