Sunita Williams, the NASA astronaut currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has far exceeded her mission requirements but issues with Boeing's capsule mean that she will have to stay there even after a delay of more than a month in her return.
Sunita Williams was initially set to return in June after completion of her week-long mission in the ISS. But her journey back to Earth has got delayed after Boeing's Starliner capsule faced thruster failures and Helium leaks.
Williams and her fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore are supposed to journey home.
Associated Press quoted Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, as saying that no new return date had been finalised.
"We'll come home when we're ready," he said.
He reportedly said that though current objective remains bringing the astronauts back On Starliner, alternative plans were also being considered.
Re-entry into Earth's atmosphere is a massively challenging and delicate task as a single mistake may mean that the space capsule is completely burnt and astronauts dead.
Sunita Williams was second prominent name of Indian origin in NASA's list of top astronauts after unfortunate death of Kalpana Chawla, the high-profile astronaut from India.
Chawla died when the Columbia Space Shuttle disintegrated during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Boeing Starliner has been beset with problems. The aviation and aerospace major was far behind companies like SpaceX and Blue Origins when it came to developing space shuttles. Even when Starliner was made, it suffered severe setbacks during its testing phase.
Boeing is already having PR disaster over crashes and malfunctions in its 737 airplanes. The company, the name of which was synonymous with some of the best commercial planes in the world has been in the crosshairs of aviation regulators around the world.
(With inputs from agencies)
