Sunita Williams Reflects on Boeing Starliner Mission, ISS Record, and Missing Indian Astronaut

Veteran NASA astronaut Sunita Williams recently spoke in New Delhi.

She shared personal reflections on her time in orbit.

Williams is a veteran of three space missions.

Her total time in space is 608 days.

A Record-Breaking Extended Mission

Williams’s most recent trip to the International Space Station (ISS) began in 2024.

She and crewmate Butch Wilmore launched on the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, the Crew Flight Test (Boe-CFT).

The mission was initially planned for only eight days.

However, technical issues with the Starliner’s thrusters and helium leaks led to an extended stay.

NASA decided the Starliner would return uncrewed to mitigate risk.

Williams and Wilmore became part of the Expedition 71/72 crew.

They spent 286 days aboard the orbiting laboratory.

They returned to Earth in March 2025 via a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Williams noted the unique perspective space provides.

She mentioned how minor arguments on Earth seem trivial from orbit.

She also holds the cumulative spacewalk record for a woman.

Her nine spacewalks total 62 hours and 6 minutes.

One difficult spacewalk involved replacing a defective reflector.

She worked for over 1.5 hours with her head bent to protect the Dragon capsule.

This difficult task resulted in neck cramps later.

During her long stay, she conducted over 150 scientific experiments.

This research included space gardening and microgravity biology.

Williams, an Indian-American astronaut, spoke of her mixed heritage.

“When I reached International Space Station for the first time, the first thing I did was to locate India,” she said.

India is the home country of her father, Deepak Pandya, from Gujarat.

She also located Slovenia, her mother’s country of descent.

Williams is known in NASA circles as the ‘samosa astronaut’ for her food preference in space.

She expressed regret about a missed meeting at the ISS.

“I missed meeting Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla who reached the station just after I left,” Williams stated.

Group Captain Shukla, an Indian Air Force test pilot, flew on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4).

His mission launched on June 25, 2025.

This was after Williams’s return in March 2025.

Williams also shared a warm moment with Sanyogita Chawla, mother of the late Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla.

Williams acknowledged the existence of a modern “space race.”

She emphasized the need for a sustainable return to the Moon.

This must include a conversation about international “rules of engagement,” she asserted.

She likened this collaborative approach to the governance of Antarctica.

Commercialisation of space is rapidly expanding the horizon.

This growth creates new opportunities for innovation and employment.

It extends beyond spacecraft to experiments, satellites, and 3D printing.

Williams, a former US Navy commander, logged over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 types of aircraft.

She encouraged Indian students to pursue careers in the growing space sector.

Get breaking commercial aviation news and expert airline analysis at flying.flights.