A video showing Indian-origin American astronaut Sunita Williams in a space craft is being widely shared with the claim that she is returning to Earth after successfully completing 127 days in space.
BOOM found this claim to be false; the video going viral is over 12 years old, and shows Williams giving a tour of the International Space Station. Since June 2024, Williams has been aboard the ISS with fellow astronaut Barry Wilmore, as their 10-day-long expedition was extended till February 2025 due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner test flight. The expected duration of their ongoing expedition is currently 240 days.
The seven-minute long video was shared a viral caption across multiple social media platforms, which read, "After successful 127 days of Space Tour, "Ms Sunita Williams" returning safely to Earth. This is Absolutely Mind Blowing video. Must Watch."
Click here to view the archive of the above X post.
The post was also widely shared on media, and can be viewed here, here and here.
Old Video Shared With False Claims
Taking cue from the "UNILAD" logo in the viral video, BOOM did a keyword search with "sunita williams unilad" and came across an article by UNILAD published in December 2023 titled, "Astronaut shows the bizarre way they have to sleep in space".
It was based on a video recorded by Williams, of her giving a tour onthe life aboard the ISS in the final days of one of her expeditions, in 2012.
The article redirected readers to a YouTube video, uploaded by NASA, on Williams' tour. BOOM found that the viral UNILAD video was a shorter version of the one Williams' shot in the ISS in 2012.
ISS Stay Extended Till Feb
On June 6, 2024, Williams and Wilmore successfully docked Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the ISS for a 10-day long expedition. However, due to technical issues with the Starliner, the duo are now expected to return on SpaceX's Dragon capsule in February 2025, during which they will continue collecting data for the expedition.
This makes Williams and Wilmore's expected duration of stay in space to be above 240 days.