Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. We’ll have to wait a little longer for Boeing’s Starliner capsule to return from the International Space Station — the capsule and two astronauts will remain on the station for twice the time originally planned, to give mission operators extra time to conduct operations. Tests on spacecraft. (It has seen a series of leaks and other problems since its launch.) New return to Earth date: June 22.
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Story of the week
We could be entering into a renaissance of human spaceflight research, with a record number of ordinary citizens heading into space, and as scientists improve techniques for collecting data on these daring test subjects. A sign that a renaissance is imminent came earlier this week, when the journal Nature published A cache of papers It details the physical and mental changes that the four-person Inspiration4 crew went through nearly three years ago.
Ars Technica Eric Berger He takes a closer look Set in Virgin Galactic’s future as the company embarks on a two-year flight ban period in order to bring its next-generation class of spaceships online.
![Virgin Galactic VSS Unity in flight](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg 2300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg?resize=680,383 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Chase_edit2_V2.jpg?resize=2048,1152 2048w)
This week in space history
Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on June 18, 1983, when she flew into orbit on the Challenger STS-7 mission.
“The fact that I would be the first American woman in space carried with it great expectations.” Reid recalled in an interview marking the 25th anniversary of her flight in 2008. “That became abundantly clear the day I was told I was being selected for the crew. I was taken into (Johnson Space Center Director) Chris Kraft’s office. He wanted to have a conversation with me and make sure I knew what I was going to do before I joined the crew. I was so fascinated by being on the crew and going into space that I remember very little of what he said.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/sally-ride-nasa.webp?w=680)