ACING SPACE

As India prepares for Gaganyaan, THE WEEK speaks to a NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut for an in-depth understanding of the making of a space traveller

- ABHINAV SINGH

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".