• January 29, 2025
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After spending the last seven months confined to the International Space Station, astronaut Sunita Williams is now “trying to remember what it’s like to walk.”

When responding to inquiries from students on Monday, Williams stated, “I’ve been up here long enough right now I’ve been trying to remember what it’s like to walk. I haven’t walked. I haven’t sat down. I haven’t laid down. You don’t have to. You can just close your eyes and float where you are right here.”

Williams said that because it was the first trip of the Starliner spacecraft, she and colleague astronaut Butch Wilmore anticipated their stay on the ISS to go longer than the eight to ten days that were scheduled. Both did not, however, expect the mission to be prolonged by many months.

“It was a little bit of a shock, actually,” Williams said as per CBS News. “We thought it would be about a month, but the extended stay was a bit different.”

Williams stated that she’s loving her time in space and appreciates the opportunity to tell people about it on Earth, even with the unanticipated delay. Her personal life, particularly her relationship with her family, has been impacted by the prolonged mission, nevertheless.

“My mom’s getting a little older, so I try to stay in touch with her and my family as much as possible,” Williams said, “I think I talk to my mom practically every day—just to check in, see how she’s doing, and keep that connection alive. It’s a little different from what we’d originally planned, but we’re managing.”

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sunita williams

Williams continued by saying that she has been able to prevent feeling alone throughout her prolonged stay in space thanks to her hectic routine and consistent communication with loved ones.

Due to problems with the Starliner spacecraft, which sparked safety concerns and caused NASA to delay their return to Earth, Williams and Wilmore have been in space for seven months.

Originally, they were scheduled to return in February with the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon mission. But SpaceX Crew-10, which is currently slated to launch in late March or early April, is carrying their replacements. To guarantee a seamless transition of operations, the astronauts must stay on board the ISS until that time.

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