Sunita Williams shared her first message to Earth regarding the delay in their return from space

Sunita William and Butch Willmore (Image Credit: PTI)

Indian-origin astronauts Sunita William and Butch Willmore are stuck in space due to the delays there Boeing Starliners is facing technical difficulties. Sunita William in a live news conference that she joined from the International Space Station (ISS) shared her first message to Earth.

In her message, she talked about the delay they are facing and said "I have a real good feeling in my heart that this spacecraft will bring us home, no problem."

Story continues below Advertisement Remove Ad

Adding to this delay problem faced by the two astronauts Butch Willmore also shared a statement and said "Failure is not an option." The mission was aimed at testing the spacecraft's capabilities, launched from Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5 and the next day on June 6 it docked at the International Space Station (ISS).

This live press conference took place on July 10, at 11 AM ET (8:30 pm in India). The delays caused due to the crew's safety were considered the first priority when the issue was revealed.

NASA on Monday mentioned in their statement that “propulsion system performance and five small helium leaks in the spacecraft’s service module, gathering as much data as possible while docked to the International Space Station".

There were around five helium leaks reported causing delays additionally at present, there are currently nine crew members present in the International Space Station.

Williams and Wilmore were planned to return on June 14 which got delayed till June 26, it was later announced that due to technical glitches, the return date would be postponed and so far no new date has been announced by NASA.

Despite the prolonged mission in space, both Williams and fellow astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore remain comfortable and optimistic about the Starliner’s safe journey back to Earth.