NASA reflects on past tragedies – Kalpana Chawla's death prompts decision to delay Sunita Williams' return – Science News

The tragic death of Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla and six other crew members on February 1, 2003, when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, played a significant role in NASA's decision to keep another Indian-American astronaut, Sunita Williams, in space for eight months.

This decision reflects the agency's increased focus on safety following previous incidents, including the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, which killed all crew members. In total, 14 astronauts lost their lives in these two accidents.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, himself an astronaut and investigator of those accidents, acknowledged that the incidents “strongly influenced the decision” to return the Boeing Starliner spacecraft to Earth without astronauts. He acknowledged that NASA has made “obvious mistakes” in the past, particularly in light of a corporate culture that previously discouraged young flight engineers from talking about risks. “Today, people are encouraged to speak out,” Nelson added.

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Kalpana Chawla died over the southern skies of the United States, just 16 minutes before Columbia's scheduled landing. She was a graduate of the Tagore School at the Karnal and Punjab Engineering College in Haryana and joined NASA as an astronaut in 1994 after completing her training in the United States.

Given recent concerns from engineers about the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, NASA has decided to return astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to Earth on the SpaceX Crew Dragon instead in February 2025. The decision was “unanimous,” according to NASA officials, and is based on the agency's commitment to safety, which Nelson called “our core value and our guiding light.”

On June 6, space engineers discovered helium leaks and problems with the spacecraft's small rockets as Starliner approached the International Space Station (ISS). NASA concluded that the “uncertainty and lack of expert judgment” regarding the spacecraft's condition did not meet the agency's rigorous safety and performance standards for human spaceflight.

In response, NASA announced plans to return Boeing's Starliner unmanned to Earth by September 6. The return trip is expected to take six hours. This will be the spacecraft's third unmanned mission, and Boeing is hoping for a safe return.