By Brett Peruzzi
Managing Editor
NEEDHAM – After 286 days in space, Needham native and astronaut Sunita Williams is back on Earth. Williams, 59, splashed down in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with her fellow astronauts off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida on March 18 after traveling down from the International Space Station, where she served as station commander.
Longer than expected space flight
Williams was originally scheduled to be on an eight-day test flight last June of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Due to technical issues with the Starliner, her time in space ended up being more than nine months. Williams and fellow astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore remained aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Photo/Courtesy of NASA
On March 31, Williams and Wilmore held a press conference at NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas. She was asked if she knew how much interest there was on Earth in her mission. Williams expressed humility and said they tend to focus on their job and not so much what’s going on below them on Earth or how much attention the mission may be getting. She quipped, referring to being in orbit, “The world doesn’t revolve around us, but we revolve around the world!”
Needham roots
Williams grew up in Needham, attended Needham High School and later graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. She also earned a master’s degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. She trained as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Navy and flew combat missions in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean region, and later became a test pilot for experimental aircraft.
Photo: Courtesy of NASA
She rose to the rank of captain in the Navy, logging over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. In 1998, she was chosen to be a NASA astronaut.
Career in space
After extensive training, Williams made her first space flight in 2006-2007, giving her nearly 20 years in space travel in total at this point. She spent 195 days in space on her first mission, setting the record at that time for the longest time in space by a woman. She also racked up nearly 30 hours of spacewalks, and set another record on her next space flight for the most hours spent in spacewalks by a woman. On that mission she also became the second woman to command the International Space Station. Williams has been recognized with several awards, including the NASA Spaceflight Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Distinguished Naval Service Medal.
Williams continues to be an inspiration young people, as well as women and older adults in STEM and space exploration. “I don’t feel like a hero—just another person involved in the space business,” she has said. “I’m hoping to encourage young folks to become explorers.”
Photo/Courtesy of NASA
She still maintains strong ties to Massachusetts, as her sister, Dina Pandya, lives in Falmouth and is employed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The town of Needham is justifiably proud of Williams, and a school in Needham was renamed Sunita L. Williams Elementary School in her honor.
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