Indian-Origin Astronaut Sunita Williams Set For Her 3rd Mission: A Look At Her Space Expeditions

Indian-origin astronaut Captain Sunita Williams is all set to fly into space for the third time on Tuesday. Her lift-off is scheduled to take place from the Kennedy Space Center at 08:04 AM (IST).

The retired US Navy Captain will leave for the mission in a brand new Boeing Starliner Capsule.

Let us take a look at all the space expeditions of Sunita Williams.

Expedition 14/15

Sunita Williams began her first space journey on December 9, 2006. She was a part of the Expedition 14/15, along with the crew of STS-116. As per the official page of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ms Williams served as a Flight Engineer.

The missing Expedition 14/15 was extra special as Ms Williams established a world record with four spacewalks totalling 29 hours and 17 minutes.

NASA stated, “Williams concluded her tour of duty as a member of the Expedition 15 crew returning to Earth with the STS-117 crew to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California on June 22, 2007.”

Expedition 32/33

About six years after her first space journey, Ms Williams took her second spacecraft on July 14, 2012, when she launched Expedition 32/33.

This expedition was launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, along with Russian Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

As per NASA, on July 17, 2012, they were welcomed on the International Space Station by Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and Russian cosmonauts, Expedition 32 commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin. 

The 58-year-old landed in Kazakhstan on November 18, 2012, after spending 127 days in space.

During her time in space, Ms Williams conducted research and exploration aboard the orbiting laboratory. 

Ms Williams and Japan's Mr Hoshide performed three spacewalks.

With 50 hours and 40 minutes, Ms Williams once again created a record for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.

It is worth noting that on her second expedition, Ms Williams spent a cumulative total of 322 days in space.