Indian-Origin Astronaut Sunita Williams Set To Fly Into Space Onboard Boeing Starliner On May 7

Indian-origin astronaut Captain Sunita Williams is ready to fly into space once again. This time, she will fly on a brand-new spacecraft, the Boeing Starliner. The launch is scheduled to take place on May 7, 2024. The liftoff will take place at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:04 am (IST). According to NASA’s official data, the 58-year-old has spent a total of 322 days in space. 

Along with Sunita Williams, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore will also fly into space aboard Boeing’s Starliner crew where they will stay for about a week. Sunita emphasised that she is scared but not concerned about flying in a new spaceship. "When I reach the International Space Station, it will be like coming home,” Sunita was quoted as saying by NDTV. 

Williams previously held the record for the greatest spacewalk duration by a female astronaut, lasting 50 hours and 40 minutes during seven spacewalks. According to NASA, Sunita made the record for total cumulative spacewalk duration by a female astronaut while on board, with seven spacewalks totalling 50 hours and 40 minutes, but she was exceeded by Peggy Whitson, who has ten.

In an interview with NDTV, Sunita Williams said that she would carry a statue of Lord Ganesh with her on the commercial crew flight because "Ganesh is her good luck charm" and that she was more spiritual than religious. 

Williams was born to Dr Deepak Pandya and Bonnie Pandya. Sunita’s father, Dr Deepak Pandya, was a neuroanatomist born in Jhulasan, in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, who later moved to the United States (USA) and married Bonnie Pandya, a Slovenian. According to NASA, Sunita is currently preparing to pilot the Crew Flight Test mission onboard Boeing's Starliner spaceship, which will be the vehicle's first crewed flight, as well as her third journey at the International Space Station.