Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams, is all set to follow Kalpana Chawla into space three years after the latter along with six other crewmembers perished in the ill-fated Columbia space mission. Mission specialist Williams and six other crewmembers of the space shuttle Discovery arrived Nov 13 at National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) Kennedy Space Centre in Florida to begin a final round of pre-launch training.
Williams, 41, who is going to stay in space for about six months, will be taking the place of German astronaut Thomas Reiter at the International Space Station as a flight engineer.
Daughter of an Indian immigrant, Williams was raised in Needham, Massachusetts, where parents Deepak and Bonnie Pandya are settled. Her husband, Michael J. Williams, is a Federal Police Officer in Oregon. The two have been married for over 16 years, and both flew helicopters in the early days of their career. At the International Space Station, Williams will join Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin - who arrived at the station in September - and then stay on as part of the Expedition 15 mission.
more snippets...
We appreciate your feedback, please write to us by using our contact form 
