She received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987, and a Master of Science degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995. She received initial H-46 Sea Knight training in Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 3 (HC-3), and was then assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 (HC-8) in Norfolk, Virginia, with which she made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Provide Comfort. Sunita is the youngest of three siblings, her brother Jay Thomas is four years older and her sister Dina Anna is three years older. Poor weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral forced mission managers to skip three landing attempts there over a 24-hour period. During her stay, amongst other things, she paid a visit to the Astronomical Society Vega in Ljubljana. [4][6] On December 18, 2007, during the fourth spacewalk of Expedition 16, Peggy Whitson surpassed Williams, with a cumulative EVA time of 32 hours, 36 minutes. Like many celebrities and famous people, Sunita keeps her personal and love life private. NASA selected her for astronaut training in June 1998. On completion in December 1993, she became the Project Officer assigned to the Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate as an H-46, and V-22 Chase Pilot in the T-2. In early March 2007, she received a tube of wasabi in a Progress spacecraft resupply mission in response to her request for more spicy food. Her Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-05M docked with the ISS for a four-month stay at the orbiting outpost on 17 July 2012. Aisha Dawson After the training, she was sent to Moscow to work at the Russian Space Agency on the Russian space station, and with the first Expedition Crew. Williams landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California with the crew of STS-117 on June 22, 2007. In August 2018 she was assigned to the first mission flight, CTS-1, to the International Space Station of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. “I could see this borderless world only after I went to space, but there are people like Mahatma Gandhi, who could visualise all this even without going to space. She has been awarded the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award by the World Gujarati Society. May 29, 2020, 5:02 pm, by Omissions? In 2008, Williams participated in the Boston Marathon again, this time on Earth. Williams's paternal family is from Jhulasan in the Mehsana district in Gujarat, India, while her maternal great-grandmother Mary Bohinc (originally Marija Bohinjec), born in Slovenia, immigrated to America as an 11-year-old with her mother, 1891 Slovene emigrant Ursula (Strajhar) Bohinac. She traveled to Moscow, where she received training in robotics and other ISS operational technologies while working with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) and with crews preparing for expeditions to the ISS. Also in September 2012, she became the first person to do a triathlon in space, which coincided with the Nautica Malibu Triathlon held in Southern California on Earth. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Williams served as commander of the ISS during her stay onboard ISS Expedition 33, succeeding Gennady Padalka. [citation needed], Williams was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 15, 2012, as part of Expedition 32/33. From his father's side he is a descendant of Gujarat India. [35][36] She visited Slovenia again in 2016.[37]. Williams’ sister, Dina Pandya, and fellow astronaut Karen L. Nyberg ran the marathon on Earth, and Williams received updates on their progress from Mission Control. In May 1987, Sunita Williams received her commission as an Ensign in the US Navy from the United States Naval Academy.

[23] Also in September 2012, she became the first person to do a triathlon in space, which coincided with the Nautica Malibu Triathlon held in Southern California. On June 7, 2017, the Needham School Committee voted unanimously to name the town's new elementary school the Sunita L. Williams Elementary School. She started Astronaut Candidate Training in August 1998, where she learnt ISS systems, water and wilderness survival techniques, and received physiological training, and T-38 flight training. Sunita achieved the unparalleled feat of completing the longest space flight by a woman after remaining in space for 195 days last year. On April 26, 2007, NASA decided to bring Williams back to Earth on the STS-117 mission aboard Atlantis.

Williams launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 15, 2012 as part of Expedition 32/33. Williams’ paternal ancestry is from Jhulasan, Mehsana district in Gujarat, India, while her maternal great grandmother Mary Bohinc (originally Marija Bohinjec), born 5 September 1890 in Leše, immigrated to America as an eleven year old girl with her mother, an 1891 Slovene emigrant Ursula Bohinc née Strajhar.