New Delhi, September 18 (Daily Kiran) : Sunita Williams, one of NASA’s most experienced astronauts, has made history as the second woman of Indian descent to travel into space. Born on September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio, her father, Dr. Deepak Pandya, hails from Gujarat, India, while her mother, Ursulina Bonnie Pandya, is of Slovenian-American heritage.
Her full name is Sunita Lyn Williams. She graduated with a degree in Physical Science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987 and later earned a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1995.
Before joining NASA, Williams served as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Navy, accumulating over 3,000 flight hours across more than 30 different aircraft. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1998, following in the footsteps of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-American woman in space, who flew in 1997.
Continuing this legacy, Williams launched into space for the first time on December 9, 2006, aboard the Discovery Space Shuttle. She participated in Expeditions 14 and 15 aboard the International Space Station (ISS), spending 195 days in space—the longest duration at that time for any female astronaut.
During her missions, she completed four spacewalks, totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes outside the ISS. Her second mission began on July 14, 2012, when she flew to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and commanded Expeditions 32/33, spending 127 days in orbit.
Williams’ third mission was particularly notable. On June 5, 2024, she traveled to the ISS as part of Boeing’s Starliner crew flight test alongside Barry Wilmore. Although this mission was intended to last just eight days, technical issues forced her to remain in space for over nine months.
Finally, on March 18, 2025, Williams returned safely to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. Her safe return was a significant achievement after the challenges faced during her extended stay.
To date, Sunita Williams has participated in three space missions, spending a total of 608 days in space and completing nine spacewalks, amounting to 62 hours and 6 minutes. She has received honors from the Indian government and has expressed her deep connection to India by taking a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and a statue of Lord Ganesha into space, as well as mentioning samosas during her missions.
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