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Sunita L. Williams
Sunita Williams is the second woman of Indian heritage to have been selected by NASA for a space mission
after Kalpana. She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of
Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15. She holds three records for female space travelers: longest space flight (188
days and counting), number of space walks (four), and total time spent on
space walks (29 hours and 17 minutes). Sunita Williams, landed at Edwards Air Force Base at California at 1.19 am. on June 23, 2007.
Sunita L. Williams early life
Sunita Williams was born on September 19, 1965 in Euclid, Ohio. Her parents are Deepak Pandya and Bonnie Pandya, who reside in Falmouth,
Massachusetts.Deepak Pandya is a famous neuroanatomist from Gujarat in India. Her parents, Dr. Deepak and Mrs. Bonnie
Pandya, reside in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Sunita has been to India to visit her father's family.
Among the personal items she took with her to the International Space
Station (ISS) are a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a small figurine of Ganesha and some samosas.
Sunita L. Williams education was: Needham High School, Needham, Massachusetts, 1983. Bachelor of Science degree in Physical science
from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1987, U.S. Naval Academy, 1987. Master of Science degree in
Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995.
Sunita L. Williams was married to Michael J. Williams.
Sunita L. Williams NASA career
She joined the Organizations: Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Society of Flight Test Engineers
and American Helicopter Association.
Sunita L. Williams started
her NASA career in June 1998. As an expedition 14 flight engineer,
she participates in the mission's third planned session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction
resumes on the International Space Station. Selected by NASA in June 1998, Williams began her training in August
1998. Her Astronaut Candidate training included orientation briefings and tours,
numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle
and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground
school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and
wilderness survival techniques. Following a period of training and evaluation,
Williams worked in Moscow with the Russian Space Agency on the Russian
contribution to the ISS, and with the first expedition crew sent to the
ISS. Sunita worked within the Robotics branch on the ISS Robotic Arm and the related Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator.
She was a crewmember on the NEEMO 2 mission, living underwater in the Aquarius habitat for nine days in May 2002.
SPACE FLIGHT
EXPERIENCE
Sunita Williams served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station. She launched with the crew of STS-116 on December
9, 2006, docking with the station on December 11, 2006. As a member of the
Expedition-14 crew Sunita Williams established a world record for females with
four space walks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes of EVA. (Astronaut Peggy
Whitson subsequently broke the record in 2008 with her five total spacewalks).
Williams concluded her tour of duty as a member of the Expedition-15 crew
returning to Earth with the STS-117 crew to land at Edwards Air Force Base on
June 22, 2007. During her increment in space, Sunita Williams broke the existing
record by Shannon Lucid, setting a new record for females of 195 days in space. |
Sunita L. Williams
Sunita Williams established a world record for females with
four space walks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes
Sunita Williams served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station.
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SPECIAL HONORS
Sunita Williams
awarded Navy Commendation Medal (2), Navy and Marine Corps
Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal and various other service awards.
Recreational interests
Sunita Williams recreational interests include running, swimming, biking, triathlons,
windsurfing, snowboarding and bow hunting. She has a pet Jack Russell Terrier named Gorby which was featured with her on
the "Dog Whisperer" television show on the National Geographic Channel on
November 12, 2010.
Sunita Williams visits India
Sunita Williams visited
India in September 2007. The astronaut, who spent a record 195 days onboard spaceship Discovery, arrived in Ahmedabad
on September 18, 2007 a week-long visit to India. She went to the Sabarmati
Ashram set up by Mahatma Gandhi in 1915, and also went her ancestral village
Jhulasan in Gujarat. She was awarded the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa
Pratibha Award by the World Gujarati Society, the first person of Indian origin
who is not an Indian citizen to be presented the award. She also visited her cousin's home on her nephew's birthday.
On October 4, 2007, Williams spoke at the American Embassy School, and then met Indian President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
On October 7, 2007 in Mumbai she said, " We are responsible for keeping Earth as we found it. From space, we
saw glacier in Himalayas. Major changes are going on the planet and we need to own up to that."
On September 21, 2007 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams is a role model for women and
children in the country. Singh, who spoke to the astronaut in Ahmedabad over phone, invited her to visit him in New Delhi.
He said she is a "role model" for Indian children and "sources of inspiration for Indian women," a PMO spokesman said.
Astronaut Sunita recount the technological challanges associated with the International Space Station
to a galaxy of scientists from across the world in Hyderabad on September
20. These scientists - 2000 of them, including head of space agencies of
US, Russia, Japan, China, Canada, Europe and India at the 58th
International Astronautical Congress held in Hydrabad from September 24- 28.
Sunita is a Ganesh devotee, and had even taken a Ganesha idol with her when she
visited the International Space Station on her record- breaking space flight.
Sunita's relatives at her uncle's home in Ahmedabad, who celebrated her visit to Earth with gusto,
are also looking forward to seeing her again. "She loves Gujarat and she is returning here after a long time. Sunita is returning to Ahmedabad after a gap of almost ten years. But given
her hectic schedule, she might not be able to spend too much time with the family. |
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Earth from Space - Photos by Sunita |
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