Indian Origin Astronaut Captain Sunita Williams Is Flying into Space Again in A Brand New Spacecraft

Indian astronaut Captain Sunita Williams is all set to fly into space once again ! She’ll be flying in a brand new spacecraft, the Boeing Starliner.

Born to Dr. Deepak Pandya and Bonnie Pandya, she will create history by becoming the first woman to fly on a maiden mission of a new human rated spacecraft.

The liftoff is scheduled to take place from the Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 2024, at 8.34 8.04 am India time.

Sunita Williams, 59, will be flying alongside 61 year old Astronaut Barry Eugene Butch Willmore, a navy test pilot who has flown to space twice. The two experienced pilots will be launching on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station.

Sunita Williams admits that she is a bit nervous about embarking on this new journey. “When I reach the International Space Station, it will be like going back home”, she expressed.

Sunita Williams has been to space twice: in 2006 and 2012. She once held the record for the longest spacewalk duration of 50 hours and 40 minutes across seven spacewalks by a female astronaut. According to NASA, she has spent 322 days in space.

She is also preparing to be the pilot of the Crew Flight Test mission aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.

Williams and Wilmore will fly to the space station for around a week to test the spacecraft and its subsystems before NASA certifies it for rotational missions to the orbiting laboratory for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

A report said that Williams is fond of Samosas and is a marathon runner too.