'SpaceX So Far Pretty Reliable': Former NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly On Sunita Williams' Return To Earth

Last Updated:April 09, 2025, 19:33 IST

Commenting on India's "exciting" space programme – Chandrayaan-3 and the upcoming first-ever manned mission, Gaganyaan – former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly said ISRO has a great future with the technology and talent to be successful

Former NASA astronaut was in conversation on Day 2 of the Rising Bharat Summit 2025. (Image: News18)

Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent 340 days in space for his last mission, said SpaceX has so far been “pretty reliable" while commenting on the recent return of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.

Kelly, who was speaking during his session ‘Spacewalk: Rocketing Towards Future’ on Day 2 of the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, did not openly comment on the accusations by US President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk that the failed Boeing Starliner mission was the Biden administration’s fault.

Williams and Wilmore had gone to space for an eight-day mission in June 2024, but got stuck at the Space Station (ISS) for nine months after their spacecraft developed serious technical snags and returned without them. The two astronauts returned to Earth on March 18 this year on a SpaceX rocket.

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“Any country that builds a spacecraft needs to fly it for the first time. On a test flight, when you’re testing something for the first time, you expect things to go wrong. And in the case of this Boeing spacecraft that Butch and Suni launched on, it had some serious issues," he said.

He said NASA had decided it was safer to bring the Boeing Starliner home without the two crew members on it, and had another spacecraft up there that Williams and Wilmore could return on during an emergency.

“…It was decided in August that in September, they would launch a SpaceX, which thankfully we have two vehicles and SpaceX has, you know, so far been pretty reliable. But they launched SpaceX in September with two crew members on board, where they normally have four, and they did that so there would be room for Butch and Suni. And that’s the spacecraft they came home on a few weeks ago… The decision to bring them home on that spacecraft was made last August," he added.

Kelly, who spoke about his 340-day mission in space, described his typical routines at the ISS and shared how spaceflight and time spent in space affects the physical and mental health of astronauts. Commenting on India’s “exciting" space programme – Chandrayaan-3 and the upcoming first-ever manned mission, Gaganyaan – he said ISRO has a great future with the technology and talent to be successful.

“My brother used to say this years ago that going to Mars, it’s not about rocket science, it’s about political science. Because we really have the technology, what we need is the public support to elect officials that believe in the mission, that believe in science, and provide the funds to get us there. As long as your country is excited about it and is supportive, you’ll be successful," he said.

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