Sunita Williams

Sunita married Michael J. Williams, a Federal police officer in Oregon. They have no children. However, in 2012, she had expressed a desire to adopt a girl from Gujarat, India.

She is featured in a documentary film titled ‘The Mars Generation’, which is about a new generation of teenagers who are preparing to go to Mars.

She is a member of Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Born on September 19, 1965 in Euclid, Ohio, Sunita Williams is of Indian-Slovenian descent. Her father Indian-American neuro-anatomist Deepak Pandya and mother Slovene-American Ursuline Bonnie Pandya stay in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Sunita has two elder siblings—brother Jay Thomas and sister Dina Anna. Her paternal family has its roots in Jhulasan, Mehsana district in Gujarat, India.

In 1983, she graduated from Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987. She received a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995.

In May 1987, Sunita Williams received her commission as an Ensign in the US Navy from the United States Naval Academy. She did a temporary assignment of six months at the Naval Coastal System Command, and thereafter, she was designated as a Basic Diving Officer, reporting to Naval Aviation Training Command.

In 1989, she was designated as a Naval Aviator, and reported to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 3 for initial H-46 Sea Knight, training. After the completion of the training, she was assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 in Norfolk, Virginia. In support of Desert Shield and Operation Provide Comfort, she made overseas deployments to the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea.

In 1992, she became the Officer-in-Charge of an H-46 detachment, and went to Miami, Florida, for Hurricane Andrew Relief Operations onboard USS Sylvania.

She did a course at the United States Naval Test Pilot School in January 1993. On completion in December 1993, she became the Project Officer assigned to the Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate as an H-46, and V-22 Chase Pilot in the T-2.

Next, she was assigned as the squadron Safety Officer, and flew test flights in the SH-60B/F, UH-1, AH‑1W, SH-2, VH-3, H-46, CH-53 and the H-57. In December 1995, she became an Instructor in the Rotary Wing Department of the Naval Test Pilot School, and also held the school’s Safety Officer post, and flew the UH-60, OH-6 and the OH-58. Following this, she became the Aircraft Handler and the Assistant Air Boss, assigned to the USS Saipan (LHA-2), Norfolk, Virginia.

Sunita Williams holds the record for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut with 50 hours and 40 minutes. She is also placed at No. 8 on the list of most experienced spacewalkers. While onboard ISS, she created a world record amongst females with four spacewalks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes.

On April 16, 2007, she made another world record, by becoming the first person to run a marathon in space. She finished the 2007 Boston Marathon in four hours and 24 minutes.

She has been awarded the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award by the World Gujarati Society.

In 2008, she received the Padma Bhushan from India, and in 2011, she received the Medal for Merit in Space Exploration from the Government of Russia.

In September 2012, she became the first person to complete a triathlon in space, as a part of California’s Nautica Malibu Triathlon. She used the ISS’ treadmill and stationary bike, and as a substitute for swimming, a part of the race, she used the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) for weightlifting and resistance exercises that is taken as swimming in microgravity. After “swimming” for half a mile, biking 18 miles, and running 4 miles, she finished in 1 hour, 48 minutes, and 33 seconds.