Old Video Of Sunita Williams Giving A Tour Of The Space Station Going Viral With Misleading Claims.

Recently a video of astronaut Sunita Williams went viral on social media. The video shows Sunita Williams giving a tour of the space station. Sharing the video, users are claiming that the video shows Sunita Williams returning to the Earth after the 127-day Space Tour. Sharing the video on Facebook, users wrote, “After successful 127 days of Space Tour, “Ms Sunita Williams” returning safely to Earth. This is Absolutely Mind Blowing video. Must Watch”.

Facebook Link | Archived Link.

However, as we investigated, we found the claims to be misleading. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check

We started our investigation by conducting a relevant keyword search. This led us to the NASA website where several videos of Sunita Williams could be seen. Going through the videos, we discovered that the viral video is a compilation of all these videos. The videos were uploaded on 21 November 2012.

Please see here. Archived Link.

This makes it clear that the viral video is not recent. 

Moving forward, we found a news release by NASA with the headline, “NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew”.

The news release reads, “NASA will return Boeing’s Starliner to Earth without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard the spacecraft, the agency announced Saturday. The uncrewed return allows NASA and Boeing to continue gathering testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew.

Wilmore and Williams, who flew to the International Space Station in June aboard NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, have been busy supporting station research, maintenance, and Starliner system testing and data analysis, among other activities.

“Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “I’m grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work.”

Wilmore and Williams will continue their work formally as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025. They will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Starliner is expected to depart from the space station and make a safe, controlled autonomous re-entry and landing in early September.

NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters on June 6 as Starliner approached the space station. Since then, engineering teams have completed a significant amount of work, including reviewing a collection of data, conducting flight and ground testing, hosting independent reviews with agency propulsion experts, and developing various return contingency plans. The uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence do not meet the agency’s safety and performance requirements for human spaceflight, thus prompting NASA leadership to move the astronauts to the Crew-9 mission.

“Decisions like this are never easy, but I want to commend our NASA and Boeing teams for their thorough analysis, transparent discussions, and focus on safety during the Crew Flight Test,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “We’ve learned a lot about the spacecraft during its journey to the station and its docked operations. We also will continue to gather more data about Starliner during the uncrewed return and improve the system for future flights to the space station.”…”

Please read here. Archived Link.

Further, we found a video on YouTube uploaded on 16 October 2024 that featured Sunita Williams talking with WGBH Boston Public Radio. The caption of the video reads, “NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Talks with WGBH Boston Public Radio – Wednesday, October 16, 2024”

The description of the video reads, “Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview October 16 with WGBH/Boston Public Radio. Williams is in the midst of a long-duration mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.”

A report published on Business Today can be read here.

It is worth mentioning that astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been stranded aboard the International Space Station for months due to a technical problem with the spacecraft.

This makes it clear that the viral video of Sunita Williams giving a tour of the space station is old and it doesn’t show Sunita Williams returning to the Earth.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is misleading. The video of Sunita Williams giving a tour of the space station is old. It doesn’t show Sunita Williams returning to the Earth. NASA is planning to bring Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore back home in February 2025.