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Sunita Williams, aboard International Space Station, will see 16 sunrises into New Year 2025
The number of sunrises the crew will see is estimated based on the number of times the International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth.
US astronaut Sunita Williams, currently stuck at the International Space Station (ISS), will see 16 sunrises across the Earth as we head into a New Year, i.e. January 1, 2025.
Williams is the commander of the “Expedition 72” mission, which also hosts fellow flight engineers, namely - Alexey Ovchinin, Butch Wilmore, Ivan Vagner, Don Pettit, Aleksandr Gorbunov and Nick Hague.
“As 2024 comes to a close today, the Exp 72 crew will see 16 sunrises and sunsets while soaring into the New Year. Seen here are several sunsets pictured over the years from the orbital outpost,” said the ISS in a post on X.
The number of sunrises the crew will see is estimated based on the number of times the ISS orbits the Earth, approximately 15.5 times per day. This is because it travels at an average speed of about 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,500 miles per hour) at an altitude of around 400 kilometres (250 miles). Each orbit takes roughly 90 minutes to complete.
Williams and Wilmore travelled to the ISS in June this year for a scheduled eight-day mission. A short stay turned out to be a months-long ordeal when the Boeing Starliner capsule they arrived on was deemed unfit to return them to Earth.
The crew has been sending periodic messages to their friends and family on Earth.
“Welcome to the International Space Station as we get ready for the Christmas holidays. It's a great time up here, we get to spend it with all of our 'family' on the International Space Station. There are seven of us up here and so we're going to get to enjoy company together,” said Williams in a video posted on X by NASA ahead of Christmas.
Earlier this month, NASA announced that Williams and Willmore's return to Earth will be further delayed until at least late March 2025. The agency said that Williams and Willmore would return to Earth along with astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov after the four-member Crew-10 mission reaches the space station.
