Is baar, Sunita Williams itihaas banati aur pehli mahila banti, jo ek naye antariksha shuttle ki pehli crewed mission par udne wali thi.

Aaj ke din, taare ke taraf phir se uthne wali thi ‘antariksha ki superstar’ Sunita Williams, jo ab tak teen baar antariksha mein safar kar chuki hain, ek naye spacecraft mein. Boeing Starliner, jise astronaut Sunita Williams ko teeni baar antariksha le jana tha, ka launch Kennedy Space Center se hone wala tha Florida ke Cape Canaveral mein, bharat ke samay ke anusaar, 8.04 baje subah.

Lekin, lift-off se sirf 90 minute pehle, Atlas V rocket ka launch radd kar diya gaya. US antariksha agency NASA ne announce kiya ki ek oxygen relief valve par ek off-nominal shart thi, jiski wajah se launch ko taal diya gaya. Ms Williams aur NASA ke Barry Wilmore, jo Starliner ko Antariksh Station tak udane wale the, surakshit taur par spacecraft se bahar aaye hain.

Yeh Indian-origin antariksha yatri ke liye teesri antariksha yatra hoti, jo pehle se hi 322 din tak antariksha mein bita chuki hain aur ek mahila ke sabse adhik ghante tak antariksha mein chalne ka record rakhti thi, lekin fir Peggy Whitson ne uska record tod diya.

Is baar, unhone itihaas banaya hota agar woh pehli mahila hoti jo ek naye antariksha shuttle ki pehli crewed mission par udne wali hoti.

Sunita Williams ka pehla antariksha yatra 9 December, 2006 ko shuru hua tha, jo 22 June, 2007 tak chala. Unhone onboard rehte hue, chaar antariksha spashtikaran kare aur 29 ghante aur 17 minute tak spacewalk kiya, jo mahilaon ke liye duniya ka record banaya.

59 saal ki umar mein, unhone thoda ghabraya toh tha lekin unka koi bhi jhijhak nahi thi naye spacecraft mein udne ki. Unhone Starliner ki design mein madad ki thi, NASA aur Boeing ke engineers ke saath kaam kiya tha. “Jab main Antariksh Station tak pahunchungi, toh yeh apne ghar jaane jaisa hoga,” unhone kaha.

Udhaan se pehle, unhone NDTV se kaha tha ki is safar par woh Bhagwan Ganesh ke pratima ko saath le jaana chahti hain, kyunki woh unka “good luck charm” hai. Pehle, unhone Bhagwad Gita ka ek prati lekar gayi thi. Ek utsuk marathon runner, unhone antariksha mein ek triathlon bhi complete kiya, jo US ke athletes ke saath takkar lene ka avasar tha.

Yeh das din ka mission Starliner ke antariksha mein sthirta ko saabit karega. Isse yeh bhi saabit hoga ki team NASA ki certification hasil karne ke liye aur lamba samay tak ke missions ko udane ke liye tayyar hai ya nahi.