NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are staying at the International Space Station since June this year. The two astronauts will go live from space during a press conference on September 13 at 11.45 pm IST. NASA states that the pair will participate in a news conference aboard the International Space Station in low Earth orbit.
How to watch NASA Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore live from space
To watch the press conference with the two astronauts live, they can visit the company’s official website, NASA app, social media handles of NASA or the official YouTube page. You can also tap on the embedded link below.
After NASA decided to return the Boeing Starliner uncrewed, the duo stayed on the space station as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew. They will come back home in February 2025 on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members on NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission. This decision was made based on past missions, especially the Columbia mission where the faulty Columbia spacecraft broke apart, killing all seven crew members onboard including Kalpana Chawla during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
However, in case of emergency, NASA states, “The International Space Station crew and ground teams have completed the configuration of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft supporting Crew-8 to now serve as the emergency return spacecraft for Butch and Suni, if needed, until NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission arrives following its launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24.”
Due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, looks like Williams will celebrate her birthday in space for the second time in her life. Williams will turn 59 years old on September 19. Williams' second spaceflight, Expedition 32/33, took place from July to November 2012. During her four-month stay on the ISS, she conducted experiments and celebrated her first birthday in space.
Since the NASA astronauts have to spend around 6 more months in space, they have been busy with different things. According to NASA, in addition to supporting station research, and maintenance, they have been experimenting with new ways to produce fiber optic cables and growing plants aboard the orbiting complex.