NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has expressed her admiration for India’s beauty as seen from space and shared her desire to visit the land of her father’s birth to connect with its people and share her space exploration experiences. Speaking at a press conference in New York on Monday, Williams recounted her observations from the International Space Station and her hopes for deeper ties with India in the field of space exploration.
When asked how India appeared from space and whether there were any prospects for collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Williams responded by describing the country as “amazing.” As per agency report, she mentioned how her fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore captured some incredible photographs of the Himalayas during their missions, calling the view truly spectacular.
Williams and Wilmore recently returned to Earth after spending over nine months in space as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. This press conference marked their first joint public appearance since their return.
Sunita Williams, who was born in Ohio to parents Deepak and Ursuline Bonnie Pandya, also reflected on her personal connection to India. Her father hailed from Gujarat and moved to the United States in 1958, where he pursued medical training in Cleveland, Ohio. She expressed her strong wish to travel to India and meet with its people to share her insights on space travel. Referring to the upcoming Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), which includes Indian mission pilot Shubanshu Shukla, Williams praised the increasing participation of Indian citizens in commercial spaceflight.
Shubanshu Shukla, born in Lucknow, is set to become the second Indian astronaut to travel to space after former Indian Air Force officer Rakesh Sharma in 1984. Williams said she looked forward to meeting him and hoped they could together inspire and inform as many people in India as possible about the wonders of space. She acknowledged India as a great democracy making significant strides in space exploration and expressed NASA’s willingness to support and be a part of India’s journey in this field.
In a light-hearted moment, when Wilmore asked whether she planned to take her crew members to India, Williams laughed and responded, “Absolutely. We’ll feed you spicy food—it’ll be great.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the return of Sunita Williams and the Crew-9 team from their long mission aboard the International Space Station. In a post on social media platform X, he wrote, “Welcome back, Crew-9! Earth missed you.” The Crew-9 members, including NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth on March 18, landing in the sea near Florida’s Tallahassee coast aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
