Sunita Williams A Space Odyssey

Outer space has always captured our imagination and conjured world beyond our comprehension. Many of us look up at the stars, but few of us walk amongst them. Sunita Williams is one of those rare people. The astronaut boasts an illustrious career in space exploration, breaking records and taking on feats most of us couldn’t dare to dream of.

Lucky for us, Sunita is comfortable forging a new path and enlightening the rest of us along the way. One of 73 female astronauts in history (there’s a total of 634 to date), she’s shown grit, tenacity, and a sense of wonder that sets her apart. To name a few of her accomplishments, she’s held records for the longest spacewalk at 50 hours and 40 minutes, and the second longest mission, clocking in 195 days in space.

Sunita, who is of Indian-Slovenian heritage and was raised in Massachusetts, started her career in the navy and clocked over 3000 flight hours in 30 different aircraft. It was her passion for flight that would propel her to a career in space, and inspiration in the form of a visit to the space centre and a meeting with astronaut John Williams, who she has described as a “positive influence” on her. “I think every test pilot’s dream is to be on the start of something that’s brand new.” For someone as defined by an inner drive as she is, becoming an astronaut was a natural progression.

What it’s also essential to know about her is that she’s whip-smart. Growing up close to Boston, she talks fast and says her fondness for their particular brand of East Coast with has seen her labelled a ‘smart alec’. To focus on that would be to deny her humility as she puts it, “I don’t feel like a hero – just another person involved in the space business. I’m hoping to encourage young folks to become explorers.”

Her exploration is clearly something that brings her a huge amount of joy. In an interview with Conde Nast Traveller in India, she described a launch in emphatic detail. “When the engines start up, you think, “Holy moly, we’re really going.” Just eight minutes later, you’re in space. All of a sudden your arms start floating. I took my helmet off and it floated away and for me, it was six months before I felt gravity again.”

That’s not to say she doesn’t manage to have fun up there, for someone so naturally curious it’s a wonderful habitat. “You can hover in the air if you want, or you can push off of something and glide through the air – just like a fish. I also think it’s like being a fish, since you can catch food in your mouth easily because it is suspended in the air – just like when you put fish food in a tank – the fish swim up to it, open their mouths, and eat the food.”

And how would she describe space? “Awesome! There is a distinct layer between the Earth and the universe; which is extremely black. Slowly, the entire universe starts to look 3D, like you can fly through it rather than this sphere of blackness overhead. And when you’re above the atmosphere, there isn’t water vapour in the air to make things foggy. There are windows at the top of the space shuttle and about 10 minutes into the flight, my commander said, “Suni come here.” I fly up to the flight deck – you don’t have to use the ladder, it’s incredible – and I look out and am amazed. You can see the curvature of the Earth. The moon is amazing, shaded by hundreds of complex greys, whites, and blacks. The stars are crystal clear and you can see that some are closer than others.”

In terms of closeness, she’s someone who gets to a new frontier and is surveying the horizon for her next one, which has led to so many incredible experiences for her. “I think after orbiting for a while and looking at the surface, the natural tendency is to want to experience it, to go down there and touch it. I started thinking about the Apollo astronauts who orbited the moon and didn’t land – that must have been agonising!” As one of a few who’s been able to go out and truly experience Space, she can speak to this more than many.

Order your copy of issue 19 here