NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who retired from the space agency and is visiting India, has expressed her desire to go to the moon but said she would pass that opportunity onto the new generation.
Williams,
60, said she is hopeful that India and the United States will collaborate in space. Talking about numerous opportunities in space, she said young people should pursue a career, explore more, and take part in the sector.
“I hope the US and India will work together in space…I would love to go to the moon, but pass this onto the new generation. So many opportunities for young people in space…they should explore more and participate more,” Williams told News18 in an exclusive interview.
She said it feels good to be back in India and she had made plans to go on a vacation once she returned to Earth from space.
“It’s good to be back in India. We went through a longer routine to get back in form after we returned to Earth. We needed a mental break as we knew we would be longer in space than anticipated; we loved being in space and had plans when we returned to India…to go on a vacation. We were relieved when we were returning to Earth. My whole family was very supportive,” she said.
The astronaut said her experience in space was unique and she wanted to share it with everyone as it had been “great” to be a NASA astronaut.
“I took food to the spacecraft, which represented my culture. It was great to be a NASA astronaut,” she added.
Williams had got stuck in space when an eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) had turned out to be a challenge of a lifetime as problems cropped up on their Boeing space flight that stretched her stay in orbit to over nine months. She had a stellar 27-year career during which she completed three missions aboard the ISS and set various human spaceflight records,
“After 27 years of service, NASA astronaut Suni Williams retired from the agency, effective Dec. 27, 2025. Williams completed three missions aboard the International Space Station, setting numerous human spaceflight records throughout her career,” NASA said in a statement issued on January 20.
‘TRAILBLAZER IN HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT’
Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams was born to a Gujarati father, Deepak Pandya, hailing from Jhulasan in Mehsana district and a Slovenian mother, Ursuline Bonnie Pandya, on September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio, in the US.
“Suni Williams has been a trailblazer in human spaceflight, shaping the future of exploration through her leadership aboard the space station and paving the way for commercial missions to low Earth orbit,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman was quoted as saying in the statement. “Her work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the Moon and advancing toward Mars, and her extraordinary achievements will continue to inspire generations to dream big and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement, and thank you for your service to NASA and our nation.”
Williams logged 608 days in space – second on the list of cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut. She ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflight by an American, tied with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, both logging 286 days during NASA’s Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions, it said.
She also completed nine spacewalks, totalling 62 hours and six minutes, ranking as the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list. She was the first person to run a marathon in space, NASA said.
From Needham, Massachusetts, she holds a bachelor’s degree in physical science from the United States Naval Academy and a master’s degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. A retired US Navy captain, she is an accomplished helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, having logged more than 4,000 flight hours in 40 different aircraft, it said.
Williams launched for the first time aboard space shuttle Discovery with STS-116 in December 2006 and returned aboard space shuttle Atlantis with the STS-117 crew. She served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 14/15 and completed a then-record-breaking four spacewalks during the mission.
(With agency inputs)
