Sunita Williams Biography, Essay, Short Note, Article, Story
Essay on Sunita Williams
Sunita Lyn Williams or Sunita Pandya or as popularly known to the world, Sunita Williams is a pride to the world as she is of the few women who have made into the space program and has brought laurels from around the globe for her feat. This Indian origin US astronaut is recognized as the record holder among woman of having spent most number of hours outside the space station in a single mission. It was about 29 hours on her first mission to International Space Station (ISS). Before exploring more about her missions let’s take a look at how she made it big into the space exploration.
Sunita Williams Story
Before getting into the space industry and hitting the headlines, Sunita Williams started her career in U.S. Naval Academy in 1983 at Annapolis, Maryland. By 1987 she was made an ensign, and she began her aviation training at Naval Aviation Training Command. By July 1989 she started to take training in combat helicopter. As a result, she was deployed in the helicopter support squadrons during the preparations for the Persian Gulf War and the establishment of no-fly zones over the Kurdish areas of Iraq. She also played a role during the relief missions of Hurricane Andrew that hit Miami in 1992.
By 1993 she became a naval test pilot, and later on, she became naval test pilot instructor during which she flew 30 different aircraft and had a flying experience of 2770 flight hours. Because of her experience and skills, she got shortlisted for the astronaut program where she was station aboard the USS Saipan.
In the following years, she underwent a lot of training and learning new skills that were required to become a full-fledged astronaut which includes William completing her M.S. in engineering management in 1995 from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. Followed by that, she completed her astronaut training in 1998. After that, she travelled to Moscow where she got training in the field of robotics and other ISS operational technologies while working with the Russian Federal Space Agency with other crew members for the preparation of ISS mission.
Biography of Sunita Williams
For her first mission, she flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery on December 9, 2006, on the STS-116 mission to ISS. She was the flight engineer during the expeditions 14 and 15. It was during this mission that she set two world records of having the longest spacewalk hour of about 29 hours and staying in the space for about 195 days (the latter record broke in 2015). During her stay, she also ran for Boston Marathon on her spacecraft treadmill.
Sunita made another trip to ISS on July 15, 2012, as a part of the crew of Soyuz TMA-05M. She was the flight engineer on Expeditions 32, and on September 16 she was promoted to the post of commander of Expedition 33. She made 21 hours of the spacewalk on her second mission, and as a result, she totaled her spacewalk to about 50 hours. During her second mission, she competed in a triathlon. She stayed in the space for 121 days during her second mission. By doing so, she totaled her stay in space for about 321 days which is second highest among the woman astronaut.
Conclusion
Sunita Williams is the second Indian origin US astronaut after Kalpana Chawla who has achieved unbelievable feats. She has inspired all of us to work hard and achieve the impossible. With her work and dedication, she will continue to inspire millions of girls to take astronaut as a viable career option and be their idol for years to come.