Renowned Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is set to be part of the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), according to the space agency.
She will pilot Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which is set to launch on May 8. She will be accompanied by fellow NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore.
This mission will mark Williams’s third visit to the ISS, where she will join a team of astronauts to conduct various scientific experiments and missions during her stay.
- First mission: Williams was assigned to the International Space Station (ISS) as a member of ‘Expedition 14 and 15, held from December 9, 2006, to June 22, 2007. During which she set a record by completing four spacewalks that lasted a combined duration of 29 hours and 17 minutes—an achievement unmatched by any other female astronaut.
- Second Mission: In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on ‘Expedition 32’ and then commander of ‘Expedition 33’. During the ‘Expedition 32/33’ held from July 14, 2012, to November 18, 2012, she completed three additional spacewalks, besides conducting thorough research on the ISS.
- Third mission: Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will lift off aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and dock at the orbiting laboratory, where they will stay for about a week. The mission is the first crewed flight for the Starliner spacecraft, which aims at testing the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking, and return to Earth in the western United States. “Following a successful crewed flight test, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and systems for crewed missions to the space station,” the US space agency added.
Sunita Williams profile
Sunita Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio, to Mumbai Indian-American neuroanatomist Deepak Pandya and Ursuline Bonnie (Zalokar) Pandya of Slovene-American descent. She resides in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Williams was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy in May 1987. She was selected by the US space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as an astronaut in June 1998. She began her astronaut candidate training at the Johnson Space Center in August of that year. According to NASA, Williams has spent 322 days in space over two missions. With an impressive record of 50 hours and 40 minutes spent on spacewalks, she holds the second-longest cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.
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