New Delhi6 minutes ago
- copy link
Sunita arrived in the auditorium in dark blue space overalls for an interactive session with the youth at the American Center in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Indian-origin American astronaut Sunita Williams said on Tuesday that a new space race is definitely going on in the world, but the objective should be that humanity returns to the moon in a sustainable, productive and democratic manner. Williams said coming to India felt like a homecoming for him, as his father was from Jhulasan village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district.
At an event in Delhi, he said – There is a space race going on, but it is a race about how we return to the moon. We want to go there in a sustainable manner, so that rules of engagement are decided and different countries can work together. Just like Antarctica.
Williams said space travel is a team sport and countries need to work together. He also stressed that commercialization of space is necessary as it increases employment and innovation opportunities in areas like new technology, satellite, space experimentation and 3D printing.
While talking to NDTV, she laughed at the question of going to the moon and said – I want to go to the moon, but my husband will kill me. It’s time to return home. The time has come to hand over the torch. The next generation of space explorers will have to carve their place in history.
Sunita said- When we see the Earth from space, we feel that we are all one.
Williams, 60, recently retired from NASA’s astronaut corps, but working in the private sector has always been an option for her, as she has spent 608 days in space on three different space missions using three different rockets. He has also conducted a total of 9 space walks, totaling 62 hours spent in space.
He recalled his time spent aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and the challenging period when an eight-day mission turned into more than nine months due to technical difficulties. During this, visuals of celebrating the festival with the multi-cultural crew on ISS were also shown.
When he was asked whether space travel has changed his perspective on life, he said- Yes, absolutely. When you see the Earth from space, you realize that we are all one and we should work together more closely.
Regarding orbital debris, he said that it has become a big challenge in the last decade and new technology is needed to manage it. He described ISS as an important test bed for these technologies.
India is a signatory to the Artemis Accords and the country aims to build an Indian space station by 2035 and send the first Indian to the moon by 2040.
Sunita met Kalpana Chawla’s mother and sister
Sunita Williams also met late astronaut Kalpana Chawla’s 90-year-old mother Sanyogita Chawla and sister Deepa. Williams came down from the stage, approached Chawla’s mother, who was sitting at the front, and hugged her.
Chawla’s mother said that Sunita Williams is like a member of her family. After the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in 2003, Williams used to come to his house for about three months and support the entire family in times of grief. Sanyogita Chawla told that Kalpana and Sunita used to inspire each other to move forward in their common profession.
Source link
[ad_3]
