Ganesh Idol, Bhagwad Gita: What Sunita Williams Takes To Space

Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, set to take a spacecraft out of Earth a third time tomorrow, carries the Bhagwad Gita to space.

Speaking to NDTV, Ms Williams said she is more spiritual than religious. When she lifts off from the Kennedy Space Centre tomorrow a little after 8 am India time in a brand-new spacecraft - Boeing Starliner, she will take her "lucky charm" - an idol of Lord Ganesh.

She said she would carry a statue of Lord Ganesh with her on the commercial crew flight as "Ganesh is her good luck charm" and that she was happy to have Lord Ganesh with her in outer space. On her earlier trips to space, she carried the Bhagavad Gita.

Among her other passions, Ms Williams is a marathon runner and has run a marathon while she was at the International Space Station.

Is she nervous before her third flight? She said that although she is a bit anxious, she has no jitters about flying in a new spacecraft. "When I reach the International Space Station, it will be like returning home," she said.

In space, she broke a few records - a major one being the time when she used to hold the record for maximum spacewalk time by a female astronaut. She took seven spacewalks, totalling 50 hours and 40 minutes.

She is currently training to pilot the Crew Flight Test mission aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft - the vehicle's first crewed flight. Sunita Williams was selected to be an astronaut in 1998 and was chosen to be a part of the select group of astronauts to fly on NASA's commercial crew program after the Space Shuttle was retired in 2015.