NASA, SpaceX launch Crew-10 mission to bring back stranded astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore
Houston: NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-10 Mission on Friday to bring back US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS), where they have been stranded for nine months.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 7:03 AM ET from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission also transported four astronauts—NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov—to replace Williams and Wilmore at the ISS.
Crew-10 marks the 10th crew rotation mission under SpaceX’s human space transportation system and the 11th crewed flight to the ISS, including the Demo-2 test flight. The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS in June 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was initially meant to return them to Earth after a week. However, technical issues, including helium leaks and problems with the spacecraft's reaction control thrusters, led to the Starliner returning unmanned in September.
After multiple delays, the astronauts are expected to begin their return journey on March 19.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
False narrative created over 2002 Gujarat riots, courts found us innocent: PM Modi
New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the discourse around the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat was an attempt to create a false narrative and his political opponents in power at the Centre wanted him to be punished but the courts cleared his name.
In a podcast with Lex Fridman, Modi said the perception that the 2002 riots were the biggest riots ever in Gujarat was an attempt to push misinformation.
"If you review the data from before 2002, you will see that Gujarat faced frequent riots. Curfews were constantly being imposed somewhere. Communal violence would erupt over trivial issues such as kite flying contests or even bicycle collisions," Modi said.
The prime minister said the riots in Gujarat in 1969 lasted for more than six months and that was an era when he was nowhere on the political horizon.
Modi said the Godhra train burning incident took place barely three days after he was elected as a legislator of the Gujarat Assembly.
"It was a tragedy of unimaginable magnitude, people were burned alive. You can imagine, against the backdrop of incidents like the Kandahar hijacking, the attack on parliament, or even 9/11, and then to have so many people killed and burned alive, you can imagine how tense and volatile the situation was," he said.
"Nothing should happen, we also wish so. Everyone would wish there should be peace," the prime minister said during the podcast released on Sunday.
Modi, who was the Gujarat chief minister at that time, said the big incident at Godhra was the sparking point and violence took place. He said that a fake narrative was spread regarding the Godhra case.
"But, the courts investigated the matter thoroughly and found us completely innocent. Those who were truly responsible have faced justice from the courts," he said.
The prime minister said his political opponents were in power at the Centre when the violence took place and they were keen to see him punished over the allegations.
"At that time, our political opponents were in power, and naturally they wanted all allegations against us to stick. They wanted to see us punished. Despite their relentless efforts, the judiciary analysed the situation meticulously twice and ultimately found us completely innocent," Modi said.
The prime minister said the most important thing was that Gujarat, which used to witness violence almost every year, has not seen riots since 2002.
"Over the past 22 years, there hasn't been a single major riot in Gujarat.
"Gujarat remains completely peaceful," Modi said.
The prime minister said his approach has always been to avoid vote bank politics.
"Our mantra has been, sabka saath sabka vikas aur sabka prayas. We have moved away from the politics of appeasement practised by our predecessors to the politics of aspiration," Modi said during his over three-hour interaction.
He highlighted how some people tried to malign his image after the riots but ultimately justice prevailed and the courts cleared his name.
