New Delhi: Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, who was successful as an astronaut, has retired from NASA
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had gone to the International Space Station, which is about 400 kilometers above Earth, were unexpectedly stranded there. They had gone for just a week of work but were stranded there for 9 months.
NASA announced on Tuesday that Sunita Williams will retire on December 27 (2025). She was a NASA astronaut for 27 years.
Her service to science and technology is extraordinary, and her projects have laid a solid foundation for our efforts to go to the Moon and Mars. Their achievements have inspired generations to come. We thank them for their service to NASA and our nation,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. Due to technical problems with the spacecraft, they had to stay in space for 286 days. The people of India were also praying for their safe return.
Sunita Williams joined NASA as an astronaut in 1998. She completed three space missions in 2006, 2022 and 2024, spending 608 days in space.
Williams has completed a total of nine spacewalks, spending 62 hours and 6 minutes in space. She is the first person to run a marathon in space.
Sunita’s ancestors are from Julasan village in Mehsana district of Gujarat. Her father, Deepak Pandya, completed his Intermediate Science from Gujarat University in 1953. He then completed an internship in medical science in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He then received a master’s degree in physiology from Western Reserve University in 1964.
In 1957, Pandya married Ursulin Bonnie Zalocar, a Slovenian-born American. The couple had a daughter, Sunita, in 1965. Williams grew up in Needham, Massachusetts. He did his secondary school education at Needham High School and graduated from there in 1983. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987. In 1995, he received a master’s degree in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology.