Sunita Williams (born Sunita Pandya DOBSep19, 1965) is an Indian - American Astronaut and US Navy Officer who holds the record for longest spaceflight by a woman(195 days).
She was assigned to the International Space Station(ISS) as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15.
ISS is a habitable Artificial Satellite in low earth orbit(below an altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles)
Expedition 14 was the 14th expedition to the ISS. Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sep 18, 2006, 04:09 UTC, aboard Soyuz TMA-9. They joined Thomas Reiter, who had arrived at the ISS 6 July 06, 2006 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS -121. In December 2006, Discovery mission STS -116 brought Sunita Williams to replace Thomas Reiter as the third member of Expedition 14. On April 21, 2007, López-Alegría and Tyurin returned to Earth aboard TMA-9. Among the personal items Williams took with her to the ISS were a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a small figurine of the Hindu Deity Ganesha and some Samosas.
Spacewalks
On January 31, February 4, and February 9, 2007, she completed 3 spacewalks from the ISS with Michael Lopez Alegria. On the 3rd spacewalk, Sunita Williams was outside the station for 6 hours 40 minutes to complete three space walks in 9 days. She has logged 29 hours and 17 minutes in 4 space walks, eclipsing the record held by Kathryn C Thomton for most spacewalk time by a woman.
Marathon Walk
On April 16, 2007, she ran the first marathon by an astronaut in orbit.Sunita Williams finished the 2007 Boston Marathon in 4 hours and 24 minutes.
Sunita Williams returned to Earth on June 22, 2007 at the end of the STS-117 mission after a record 195-day stay in space.
Honour
Sunita Williams was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour in 2008
Sunita Williams set for her second space expedition
Sunita Williams Daughter of an Indian American father from Gujarat and a Slovenian mother, is currently making final preparations for the Sunday July 15,2012 Expedition-32 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
She will be a flight engineer on the station's Expedition 32 with Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
On reaching the ISS, she will take over as commander of Expedition 33 .
The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-05M space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, center, US astronaut Sunita Williams, above, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, gesture prior to the launch of the Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, center, US astronaut Sunita Williams, right, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, left, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, walk prior the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
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