MULTIPLE THRUSTER MALFUNCTIONS. Helium leaks. In the context of a space mission, all that sounds rather alarming. But, not for experienced astronauts. American astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in June after "managing" such issues. The two former Navy officers recently completed six months in space on a mission originally intended to be for a week, after their capsule was deemed unsafe to return them to earth. The duo's return is now scheduled for February 2025. Eight months of extended stay in space (NASA does not like 'stranded' or 'stuck'), even with enough supplies, may seem like an unwelcome prospect for the uninitiated, but astronauts, evidently, are built different.
"Living in space is super fun," Williams told students from the Sunita L Williams Elementary School in Needham, Massachusetts-her hometown on December 4. Her mission partner sees it as just being on "a different path".
As NASA administrator Bill Nelson put it in the wake of the duo's extended stay: "Space flight is risky, even at its safest and even at its most routine, and a test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine for a variety of potential landing scenarios, such as mountains, forests, marshes, deserts, arctic and maritime. The gaganauts have completed 13 months of intensive training at the centre and multiple stages of theoretical and physical preparations in India, which included over 200 lectures on engineering topics related to space flight. They have also completed 39 weeks of intensive crew training activity and have participated in test missions. ISRO is now pursuing a joint mission to the ISS with NASA and US private firm Axiom Space, with at least one of the four gaganauts-in-training expected to be part of the voyage (Shukla has been designated "prime astronaut" for the mission).
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 22, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 22, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Circle of influence
The circle of influence is not an isolated one. It is etched by myriads of experiences, relationships and learnings that we amass, helping us address tectonic shifts in life.
people
Andrew Garfield and Shraddha Kapoor was a cross-pollination waiting to happen.
Women riders and drivers
I am honestly surprised at how little interest the rest of India has in the Himalayan region in general. Right from Kashmir and Ladakh to Himachal, Uttarakhand and the northeast-these areas are filled and fueled by their own unique stories and histories, but are almost foreign to the rest of us.
The 'made in heaven' couple
Sobhita Dhulipala won countless hearts-and broke a few-when she married actor Naga Chaitanya at a hyper traditional Telugu Brahmin ceremony, where every ritual was scrupulously followed.
Raj Kapoor's socialism was Nehruvian
No other Indian actor or director was as popular in Russia, Eastern Europe and China as Raj Kapoor was.
The world is his canvas
Kochi-Muziris Biennale curator Nikhil Chopra views his new role as an evolution of his artistic practice to that of a collaborator
A FORGOTTEN ROAD
William Dalrymple's new book traces ancient India's role in spreading ideas and religions across the world
TALES FROM THE TOURS
India lost one match after another in this competition, except against East Africa.
We should not play Pakistan at all
If Mohinder Amarnath's life was a movie, it would be a franchise with too many sequels to count. He describes it as a 'Hitchcock thriller.
Merry Christmas and all that
You have a shell-shocked car, but Hukum has a fine bum,\" said the missus in a muffled voice.