00:00I'm going to take a walk in the park to see what's going on.
00:30I'm going to take a walk in the park to see what's going on.
01:01APPLAUSE
01:16Now, today we're talking to Sunita Williams, or Sunny Williams,
01:19as she likes to be referred, and take part as well.
01:23Yeah?
01:25OK.
01:27So if you would like to come up.
01:30And...
01:32..but it's a little bit garbled, GB4GGB.
01:36This is November Alpha 1SS, over.
01:40Hello, Sunita.
01:42This is Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.
01:45I'm here today with over 100 brownies, guides and rangers
01:49from Girlguiding Surrey West
01:52for our contact with you on the International Space Station
01:56from Brooklyn's Museum in Surrey,
01:58the original home of British motorsport and aviation.
02:02As president of Girlguiding...
02:04No, actually, now patron of Girlguiding Association in the UK,
02:09I want to thank you for the inspiration you show to our young girls
02:13to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
02:17Are you ready for your first question, Sunny? Over.
02:21Your Royal Highness, yes, I am ready.
02:24I'm glad to hear your voice.
02:27Thank you. I'm glad to hear you too.
02:29This is all really exciting.
02:31So, your first question.
02:33Who or what inspired you to become an astronaut?
02:37And what advice would you have for any of these girls here today
02:40who might want to follow in your amazing footsteps?
02:44Well, I think my biggest influence had to be my parents,
02:49you know, who...
02:51..who just allowed me or, you know,
02:54showed me the way to try anything and don't worry about failing,
02:58don't worry about having a little bit of trouble,
03:01but just try different things and be encouraged.
03:04I think those were my biggest advocates for when I was a kid
03:08and trying to do things that were a little bit different.
03:11So I would have to say my parents, and I would say to the girls there,
03:15that same advice, just try anything and see what you like.
03:18You know, don't be stuck in one thing or another.
03:21See what science, technology, engineering, math, arts,
03:25what you find that you like and pursue it. Over.
03:29Do you have any free time?
03:31And if so, what do you spend your time doing? Over.
03:34So, yes, we do have free time.
03:36And so a lot of the times we want to look at our beautiful planet.
03:39So we have an amazing window called the Cupola
03:42where we can look down, like I was looking just earlier
03:45and saw this big hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean.
03:48And right now we're coming off the coast of Spain,
03:51so coming close to you.
03:53So those are some of the best things to do
03:55and take pictures of our wonderful planet
03:57as well as I write a journal. Over.
03:59What is the hardest part of your job? Over.
04:02Probably the hardest part is leaving family and friends for a period of time.
04:06But being up here on the space station,
04:08we actually have the opportunity to talk to them, which is great,
04:11so we could bring them along with us.
04:13But I also do really miss my dogs
04:15because I can't talk to them while I'm up here. Over.
04:18How does the food and drinks you have in space compare to foods on Earth? Over.
04:23Well, you know, it really is no comparison
04:25because we don't have the opportunity to eat what we can eat on Earth.
04:29So what we have up here is pretty good.
04:31Actually, we had ice cream last night after dinner
04:34and I had some chicken fajitas with a tortilla,
04:38so it's not bad. Over.
04:41What do you miss about Earth? Over.
04:44You know what I miss about Earth is rain and wind,
04:47like taking my dogs for a walk.
04:49That's what I usually get to experience
04:51and we don't have any of that up here. Over.
04:54What was your reaction when you found out
04:56you had been selected to fly to the International Space Station? Over.
05:00Great question. I actually didn't really even believe it.
05:03I went through the motions for all the training,
05:05but really I didn't believe it until the rocket that I was on
05:08started leaving the planet
05:10and I could feel all that vibration that we were going
05:12and then it became a reality. Over.
05:14Does space smell of anything? Over.
05:17Yes, it does.
05:19When we open a hatch,
05:21after a portion of the space station's been exposed to the outside in space,
05:26it smells a little bit like burning.
05:28I think that's ionisation that we're smelling.
05:31So it does smell like something after a piece of equipment's been in space. Over.
05:39Thank you to the Duchess of Edinburgh.
05:41Thank you to the Duchess of Edinburgh
05:43for inviting us to this event today.
05:46November Alpha 1SS. Over.
06:12Yeah, it's a shame we weren't able to say thank you to her music.
06:16I remember ages and years ago listening to Radio Caroline.
06:19We all did that.
06:21In the middle of nowhere. Not Radio Caroline.
06:24We're trying to get young people into engineering,
06:27especially groups in engineering,
06:29RF engineering, because everything depends on people.
06:32We've got radios everywhere.
06:34Yes, a cell phone, everything.
06:37We're trying to get them into computers.
06:41The girls are really good at studying.
06:43They really are.
06:44So what Thomas said is the challenge,
06:46to get them a lady spectrum engineer.
06:49So there.
06:51That's our challenge.
06:53Off you go then.
06:55Hello, nice to see you.
06:57How are you?
06:58Did you enjoy it?
07:00This is for you.
07:01Oh, thank you.
07:02How wonderful.
07:03That's very exciting.
07:05Did you enjoy today?
07:07Yes, it was so good.
07:08It was great to hear her.
07:09I know.
07:10It's kind of like, well, yeah.
07:12It's like mind-blowing.
07:14So what kind of STEM are you interested in?
07:17I prefer like the maths rather than the science.
07:20Yeah.
07:21But obviously I'm interested in STEM.
07:23You like the picture.
07:25Yeah.
07:26Have you seen the film?
07:27I haven't, no, not yet.
07:28I promise you, it's one of the most amazing films.
07:31It's really, really good.
07:33It's called Hidden Figures, and it's about the women,
07:36but particularly this one woman who solved the equation
07:40of how to get the astronauts into space.
07:45And she, not only was she a woman,
07:50very much in the man's world back then,
07:52when if you think in NASA,
07:53they didn't even have ladies' looms.
07:55There wasn't anything really happening.
07:57And not only that, she was a woman of colour.
08:00And she was amazing.
08:02And she started this whole department,
08:05and she went on to do incredible things.
08:08She was a very clever, very wise woman,
08:10and very determined.
08:11But yeah, there was one guy who just suddenly realised
08:14that actually what she was saying made sense.
08:16But there were others that had claimed credit for her work,
08:20and then he suddenly realised that she was happy.
08:23Yeah, she was amazing.
08:25Very exciting.
08:26Very exciting women in science, actually.
08:28But you have to slightly look for them.
08:30They're definitely there.
08:32Hidden gems.
08:33Definitely.
08:34They shouldn't be hidden.
08:36We need you to do amazing things with them.
08:39And go up into space and do amazing things.
08:42I'm very honoured to present you with another badge
08:45for being our patron.
08:46Oh, thank you.
08:47We have a new brooch today.
08:48Isn't that wonderful?
08:49Oh, we haven't had to replace this one in years.
08:52It's lovely.
08:53Thank you so much.
08:54We're very honoured to have you as our patron.
08:56So kind.
08:58Look at that.
08:59And that's fine.
09:00I'll leave it here.
09:01That's great.
09:02Thank you very much indeed.
09:03Unique.
09:04Yes, unique.
09:05One of a kind.
09:06Oh, well.
09:08I should wear it often.
09:09Replace it with a new one.
09:10It's going to have to go into the box now.
09:12Just seeing the girls kind of so excited to hear this.
09:15It was the forest of hands that started to go up.
09:17Yes.
09:18A little bit tentative to begin with, and then it's like,
09:20no, no, no, I really want to ask the question.
09:22And we weren't in time to get through all of them.
09:24And I love the toilet question.
09:25Who wasn't thinking about that?
09:26Yes.
09:28We knew it was going to come.
09:29Yes, absolutely.
09:30It's actually a very important and fundamental question.
09:33Probably the most interesting one.
09:35That's what we want to hear, don't we?
09:37And having a shower.
09:38Yes.
09:39So these were so chatty as well.
09:41She was really, really lovely.
09:43We got really long responses to the questions.
09:45There were so many questions I wanted to ask her,
09:47and I knew I was going to be given a script,
09:49and I had to stick to it.
09:51Yeah, okay, all right, I have to ask you this question,
09:53but there's some others I really want to ask.
09:58LAUGHTER
10:01Oh, well, it's all right.
10:02We like to get to the times, don't we?
10:04Yeah.
10:15Thank you very much.
10:16Thank you for coming.
10:18No, I'm not.
10:21Thank you very much.
10:24Congratulations.
10:26Hello.
10:27Hello.
10:29Ah!
10:30It's the Space and Rocket!
10:32Look!
10:33You like going into space, don't you?
10:35Is this a new T-shirt?
10:36We can talk into it.
10:37I struggle.
10:38He's been very excited.
10:42Hi, are you having a lovely time?
10:44Yes, we are, thank you.
10:45It's a lovely museum, isn't it?
10:47Such fun.
10:48I used to bring my children.
10:49Did you?
10:50Yes, absolutely.
10:51I loved it.
10:52Take care.
10:53Lovely to meet you.
10:54Bye.
10:59Bye.
11:10Well done.
11:11Good job.
11:16Great stuff.
Comments