This line requires physical and mental toughness as it tests you to the limits. And yet, it is exhilarating. I have had lots of fun and can actually say that I have never gone to work.

Sunita Lyn Williams is the second American woman astronaut with Indian roots, to be selected for a space mission by NASA. In a conversation with Verve's correspondent in the USA, she speaks about the preparations for her space odyssey, the chills and thrills of her unusual vocation and her memories of close friend, Kalpana Chawla

Earlier this year, Sunita Lyn Williams was appointed, along with two others, to serve as back-up crew for the international space station expedition. The announcement of the 37-year-old’s selection for flight came just before the ill-fated Columbia mission that resulted in the death of its crew with her more famous predecessor, Kalpana Chawla. As her remarks reveal, she is optimistic, and eager to take flight...

Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana was a great and gutsy woman and it is difficult to believe that she is no longer with us. She was a couple of astronaut classes ahead of me and, hence, I did not immediately meet her on joining NASA. Of course, her reputation had preceded her. When I did touch base at the NASA space centre, I ferreted her out pretty quickly and we soon became good friends.

She was a gracious and unassuming woman. We spent many leisure hours together, took innumerable bike rides, spent time looking at birds, or went on long hikes. And we often flew together in a small airplane.

Daring to be different

I have always wanted to do something different. After watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, on our small black and white TV, I thought that would be a great thing to do but never dwelled upon it being a real possibility.

I am an outdoors kind of person and did not want to spend my life behind a desk but, for a long time, I was not really sure about what I wanted to do. Flying seemed like just the option for me. My brother went to the military academy for four years and I joined the naval academy.

Interestingly, my becoming a space person was by sheer accident. Everybody wanted to fly jets. But, there were not too many positions in the navy at that time for women pilots. Hence, I took to helicopter flying and soon discovered that it too made a real fun career. Before becoming an astronaut, I thought for sure the best view of the earth was from a helicopter. You can see and capture the details of the great breathtaking planet that we live on.

I once visited the Johnson Space Centre and met John Young, who, along with Bob Crippen, was the first person to fly a space shuttle. Young had landed a module on the moon and he spoke to us about how flying helicopters helped him land the lunar module. This made me think that perhaps my helicopter training could be put to different use.

Empowering experience

In 1998, I was appointed a mission specialist at NASA. I came to the project a little later than the others. But, it hit me soon enough that this was not a simulator where, if something goes wrong, you can just open the door and go home. Naturally, the training we underwent was very intensive. I spent the first two years in classrooms and simulators. I also worked for one year in Russia and then went to Canada to gain experience on the robotic arms, at which they are the acknowledged masters.

I also underwent training at Aquarius, a habitat underwater, about the size of the space module that we would eventually take. We did almost four hours of scuba-diving every day. We honed skills related to science and construction. We spent nine days underwater in the simulation of conditions that we would face in outer space. It was a very stimulating and skill empowering experience.

This line requires physical and mental toughness as it tests you to the limits. And yet, it is exhilarating. I have had lots of fun and can actually say that I have never gone to work.

An alternative profession

My family kept dogs and I had done a lot of horseback riding. My father is a doctor and I would perhaps have become a veterinarian. Even now, I wonder... once I retire from this profession, I would love to be a junior high school science teacher. There are so many real world, science experiments around us that could inspire children, if only they knew about them. I have been lucky enough to have a career in aeronautics to appreciate basic science in flying principles. I would like to share that with the next generation of kids.

Indian visits

I have been to India thrice – once when I was very small, once in 1998 when I went with my father and sister to Gujarat. And the last trip was just this year after the Columbia tragedy.

As a child, I looked upon India as a fantasyland, something out of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. I remember seeing many palaces of erstwhile maharajas. On my second trip I connected with a lot of my relatives.

On my last trip I met many more people, from Delhi, the state of Punjab and even some government and military people. I wish it could have been under happier circumstances and I could have stayed longer to see even more of the countryside and the wonderful people.

Marriage and family life

My husband Michael, a Federal Police Officer, is in Oregan, while I, for obvious work reasons, am located at Houston, the only place to be as far as space workers are concerned. We have, at present, a long distance marriage, this May we completed 14 years. Michael was also at the naval academy and in the navy – we both flew helicopters.

The Columbia crash

Schedules have been reorganised after the Columbia tragedy and are still in a state of flux, till we begin to launch our space shuttles again. There are a couple of more pieces that need to go into the international space station, before the final piece goes in, which is what I am involved with.

I am absolutely convinced that we will discover what went wrong with Columbia. It is an undisputed fact that wherever human engineering is involved, mistakes are bound to happen. There are so many professionals working at NASA, that there are bound to be solutions…

A tryst with space

Why am I fascinated by the wide spaces out there? For me, space has no geographical dimensions. The international space station represents humanity. It is not American, Russian, Japanese or Indian, it is an exploration conducted by humanity.

When I eventually step out into space, I am sure I shall spend time looking at our earth. With just the helmet visor between it and me, I am sure I would see just how magnificent it is and yet how fragile.

The element of risk

My profession has its fair share of dangers. But, that does not worry me. I believe that there is something greater than, and beyond, human beings. Growing up with a Hindu father and a Catholic mother has given me an appreciation and tolerance for all religions. Our faith in a greater being teaches us humility and gives us the confidence we need.