Indian-American astronout Sunita 'Suni' Williams- piloted spacecraft carrying fellow NASA astronaut Barry' Butch' Williams was launched on Wednesday toward the International Space Station (ISS) from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida in a test flight that was hit with multiple delays. "Let's go, Calypso," was the message Sunita radioed to mission control minutes before liftoff, referring to the name of the Starliner capsule. "Take us to space and back.
" Starliner is scheduled to reach the ISS today at around 9.45 pm Indian Standard Time (around 12:15 pm ET). Sunita's mother, Bonnie Pandya, told NBC News hours before liftoff that her daughter was in good spirits and was "so happy about going.
" NASA said in an update on Thursday morning said that both Sunita and Butch Wilmore are hard at work performing initial tests on the Starliner spacecraft in orbit, "The first six hours have been absolutely fascinating," Butch who took manual control of the spacecraft told the mission centre at NASA's centre in Houston. NASA said that at 10:52 am ET, Boeing's Starliner lifted off on a ULA Launch Atlas V rocket for the first time and the mission dubbed as the Crew Flight Test aims to certify the spacecraft for routine space travel to and from the International Space Station. Sunita Williams, 58, has scripted history by becoming the first female astronaut to fly on the first flight of a crewed spacecraft.
The flight also marks Sunita's third foray into space. Starliner's success wil.
