Sunita's Odyssey

dainikbhaskar.com | Sep 21, 2012, 11:28AM IST

आर्टिकल

Sunita Williams is once again in the news following her recent 6th space walk. Do you know she has some remarkable records too, she is the world's most experienced female spacewalker.

Sunita Williams holds 3 records of a female space travelor: longest spaceflight (195 days), the number of space walks (6), and total time spent on 6 spacewalks (44 hours and 2 minutes) since her first journey to space for the first time in 2006. She has broken Peggy Whitson's record of longest time spent in space by a female astronaut. Let's take a closer look at her space experience.

Flight- Williams went to the (ISS)for the first time with STS-116, aboard the shuttle Discovery, on December 9, 2006 to join the Expedition 14 crew.

2nd Flight- In April 2007, Williams became the first person to run the Boston Marathon from the space station on April 16, 2007. She performed her first space walk during this mission on January 31, February 4, and February 9, 2007 with Michael López-Alegría.

3rd Flight- Williams is back in space with Soyuz TMA-05M as part of Expedition 32/33, this was launched in July of 2012. She will stay on the ISS to be the Commander of Expedition 33, which begins in late September 2012.

It's true...
A-Williams arranged for a hair cut by fellow astronaut Joan Higginbotham aboard the ISS and her ponytail was brought back to earth with the crew in 2006.
B-On April 16, 2007, she ran the first marathon by an astronaut in orbit. She finished in four hours and 24 minutes. Sunita's sister and fellow astronaut Karen L. Nyberg ran the marathon on Earth, and Sunita received updates on their progress from Mission Control.
C-She has participated in five spacewalks during her entire career.
D-Sunita took a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a small figurine of Ganeshji and some samosas along with her.