Sunita Williams to stay longer in space

Washington, Mar 29 (UNI) Indian American Astronaut Sunita Williams, is stuck in space, and is likely to return a little later than her planned seven-month stay.

She went to space in December by an Atlantis shuttle and was planning to come in July. But a hailstorm, which damaged the fuel tank of the shuttle, has completely upset NASA's flight schedule for the year.

Her take-home space shuttle Endeavour, may get off the ground only several weeks later than its originally scheduled June 28 launch.

According to Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy manager of the space station program, the space agency is doing everything they can to make her prolonged stay in space a little more comfortable.

''Aside from that, there's not a whole lot that one can do,'' he said.

With this forced stay in space, Williams is expected to break the US record for continuous time in space. Her current crew mate, Michael Lopez-Alegria, will set that record when he returns to Earth on April 20 in a Russian Soyuz vehicle with 214 days in space.

UNI