How does India look like when viewed from space? This is what NASA astronaut Sunita Williams said
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams describes India’s breathtaking view from space as “a network of lights, land of multiple colors.” Know more…
Sunita Williams, astronaut, NASA
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams said she plans to visit India soon and meet with the ISRO team during the visit. Williams said that at NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 flight press conference, she found India “stunning” whenever her spacecraft was in space for nine months in the Himalayas.
“I hope, I think I’ll go back to my father’s homeland, visit people and be excited about the Indian astronauts who are about to take the ISRO mission,” she said.
Sunita Williams’ mother, Ursuline Bonnie Pandya (Nee Zalokar), is a Slovenian-American descendant, while her father, Deepak Pandya, is from Gujarat.
Williams said she would love to share her experience in this space with ISRO and said how India has moved forward in the space and become a fellow democratic person.
“[It’s] Great – they will have their own hometown hero, and from his point of view the wonders of the ISS. ”
She added: “I wish I could meet at some point in time and we could share our experience with as many people in India as it is a great country, another great democracy trying to step into space and I’m happy to be involved and help them.”
When asked if she was going to take the crew to an upcoming trip to India, she responded to affirmation and jokes that the crew would prepare it with spicy food.
“Absolutely! You might stick out a little, but that’s OK – we’ll get everyone ready for us with some spicy food,” she said.
Williams said that when land collided to form the Himalayas and acted as a chain reaction, she could see the geographical formation of India, forming India.
“India is amazing. Every time we browse the Himalayas, we get some incredible photos of the Himalayas – it’s amazing. Like I’ve described before, like this kind of ripple that happens. Obviously, when the plates collide and then flow to India, it’s a lot of colors,” she said.
Williams talks about the diversity of India visible in different spaces from the Himalayas to the fishing fleet from the East to the West.
“I think when you come from the East, like Gujarat and Mumbai – the fishing fleet near the coast will give you some lighthouses where we come here!”
Williams said the country looks like a network of lights, with major cities being the smartest and gradually descending towards smaller cities.
“I think my impression is like the light network of big cities going down from smaller cities. [It was] Incredibly, the nights and the daytime are incredible. Of course, the Himalayas highlight this, which is the forefront of entering India, which is incredible. ” she said.
NASA CREW-9 astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore and Russian astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov breathed the world’s first breath in more than nine months on March 19 after a successful SpaceX Dragon dragon Capsule splash on March 19.
CNN reported delays caused by problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which surfaced in a test flight last summer, piloted by Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, causing the astronaut duo to stay in space for nine months instead of a week.
At the time, ISRO expressed hope to work with Williams on future space missions.
It said: “When Bharat is working to make India a developed country under the leadership of Hon’ble PM Modi Ji, we want to leverage your expertise.”
(This story has not been edited by DNA staff and published from ANI except for the title)
