00:00From breaking barriers in space to shaping India's future mission, space icon Sunita Williams spoke exclusively to Preeti Chaudhary on life beyond active space flight, her love for animals, her bond with Kalpana Chawla and much, much more.
00:26Here's a short excerpt from that exclusive interview. You can catch the full conversation with Sunita Williams this weekend.
00:39I just would, you know, want to begin with the fact of you retiring 27 years and, you know, before all of this, I want to ask you, how would you introduce yourself to our listeners, to our audiences?
00:53You know, Captain Sunita Williams had to introduce us there because you're used to very rich introductions wherever you go.
01:00And, you know, I can, and yesterday I read out a full sheet of that.
01:03So I'd like you, if you can introduce yourself to our listeners and viewers, what would you say?
01:08Oh, wow. I would say, hi, my name is my, what my mother used to call me, Sunny Williams.
01:14Yes. I'm a former Navy helicopter pilot and just retired from NASA as a NASA astronaut.
01:21Is that it?
01:23Yeah, I think that's where I would go.
01:25That's where you'd go. I just want to take, I think other things I would probably say is I used to be a competitive swimmer and I love animals.
01:32Those are some of the key characteristics about me.
01:35I just would want to add that the kind of records that you've made, 27 years in service with the NASA, and I want to read this out because three missions to the International Space Station, 608 days in space, nine space walks, over 62 hours in open space, the most by any woman in history and also running a marathon, which is the Boston Marathon in space.
01:56And there's so much more. When you close this chapter, and as you retire today, as you hang up your astronaut suit, Captain Williams, I want to, I want you to take a minute to possibly reflect on what this journey really was.
02:10Also, is this, you know, is there surrender pity in it that the announcement of your retirement is coming when you're in India because, you know, your origin, Indian origin, and most of us back home feel that we have a bit of, you know, stakeholders.
02:26In your life and career and how it's spanned out.
02:30Wow. You know, I'm excited about retirement for one thing because I feel like it was a good time to leave.
02:37The chapter that I lived in for NASA, it was building and working on the International Space Station.
02:44And we're coming to the next chapter for NASA.
02:48And the next chapter is going back to the moon.
02:50And all the work that we've done on the International Space Station, I think, is helping us inform our decisions as we make new spacecraft.
02:57Think about sustainably living on the moon and how we're going to maybe build a place where people could be there on the moon for a long period of time.
03:03All of the data that we have gathered over the last, for the space station, 25 plus years, and that includes all the buildings.
03:12That's my whole career, will help inform that next generation of explorers and exploration.
03:19You know, I love that video when you came in and it was homecoming and your two dogs.
03:23Oh, I know.
03:23God, that was so cute.
03:25Is that the reason why you had those paw print tattoos on your arm?
03:29Well, it was funny, like you mentioned in the beginning, how would I describe myself?
03:32That's sort of why I would say an animal lover.
03:34Like, that definitely came from, you know, my mother's side of my family a little bit more.
03:38But my father really liked our pets as well later in life.
03:43And so, I don't know.
03:45I've always loved watching animals.
03:47I think they're really genuine.
03:49They're really pure.
03:50They don't have all the distractions, the mess that us humans do and the, you know, the pain that we go through by just in our own, listening to our own heads, you know, like you were talking about.
04:03And I think I value watching them.
04:06I value taking lessons learned from them.
04:08And, you know, that pure joy is something that we have inside of us, too.
04:13We just sort of suppress it a little bit.
04:15The paw print tattoos that you have, are they your dolls?
04:18This was a Jack Russell Terrier that I had in, I got him in 2001, and I had him until 2017.
04:24So, he was my old boy, but, you know, went through a lot with me as I was training and getting ready to go to space.
04:31He traveled with me to Russia when I was training for my second space flight.
04:35So, he was my little buddy.
04:37Yeah.
04:37Captain Williams, you know, it's a personal question, and you can choose not to answer it.
04:41But the last time you were here, there was a lot of conversation about you wanting to adopt an Indian girl.
04:46You know, your sister had spoken about it, and it seemed that there was interest.
04:52Why didn't you go through with it, or was it something that you battled with in your head?
04:56Because the press seemed to suggest that you wanted to adopt a young girl from India.
05:00Well, my sister did adopt two children from India.
05:03Oh, lovely.
05:04Yeah.
05:04So, you know, we all had talked about it at different times.
05:08My life was a little bit complicated.
05:10Both my husband and I were professionals that moved around quite a bit, and I would say, unfortunately, we didn't have children.
05:17And I think my biggest goal in life is try to be a positive impact on kids, probably one of the reasons I love coming and talking to kids.
05:24And, you know, for me, it really wasn't a feasible idea just because my schedule was so crazy, and I really value my parents.
05:35My husband really valued his parents as well.
05:38And I think two parents in the household with children is a really good idea just to provide really awesome role models.
05:45You're somebody who speaks all the time in all your interviews.
05:49You have spoken about teen, about, you know, coming in together, making things happen.
05:55And something which a lot of us teared up on in India was the hug that you gave two days ago to Kalpana Chawala's mother.
06:03Yeah.
06:03And after that, she spoke to the press, and she says, in Hindi, in Chesa Punjabi also, she says,
06:10That when Kalpana Chawala died in that tragic crash, you know, on board in 2003, that you went and stayed with her family for three months.
06:24And she spoke about, Sunita used to come at 9 in the morning and leave at 10 at night.
06:29She's like my daughter.
06:31Is it stunning up for a friend, being a team player?
06:35What was it?
06:35Oh, that's what a compliment.
06:38She's amazing.
06:39So their whole family is amazing.
06:40And then a very, very, of course, unexpected and tough time, right?
06:46So just how to try and help people make sense out of the whole situation.
06:51You know, of course, she hadn't lived in India for quite some time, and I was lucky enough to be Kalpana's friend.
06:56And so just to share stories about her in the United States and hear stories about her and her lifetime in India.
07:04You know, we just spent a lot of time together.
07:06And I think it was a little cathartic to just reminisce and talk about her and just relive her life because it was absolutely a life worth living.
07:17And what she was represented and what she wanted in space is something that we in our office absolutely felt like we had to continue along with the rest of the Columbia crew.
07:28We weren't going to say, like, OK, we're done.
07:30We're not flying anymore.
07:31We're going to explore in their honor.
07:33That's why they were flying in space.
07:35All of them were explorers, and we just wanted to continue that.
07:39So sharing that ideas, because that is a little bit different than a mother and a daughter having a conversation, but sharing, you know, her perspectives and how the astronaut office wanted to continue their legacy, I think was really important.
07:52So I wanted to spend the time with them to make sure they understood that.
07:55And for me, it was good just to get to know them.
07:57They're just an amazing family.
07:59And I'm still in touch with a lot of them.
08:01So it's really great.
08:02And they have the fondest thing to say, both her sister and her mother, without you.
08:06But Captain Williams, speaking about the hair, you had quite a few good hair days.
08:10Yes.
08:11In space, didn't you?
08:12Something which the President of the United States also noticed.
08:15Yes.
08:16The lady with the crazy hair, I think, something like that.
08:18Yeah, the lady with the crazy hair, we are bringing you back.
08:23It was nice.
08:25Is it a reason that you don't tie your hair or is it just that you want to wear your hair?
08:29No, you know, it's an enclosed environment.
08:34I never even asked the question whether or not I could or could not.
08:37I didn't even go there because that would cause a lot of people to have to do a lot of work.
08:41It's an enclosed environment.
08:42You know, there's chemicals with dyeing your hair and stuff like that.
08:45I didn't want to cause anybody to have any problems, including myself, in this enclosed environment.
08:50So I just let it go.
08:52What scares Captain Sunita Williams?
08:55Do you fear anything at all?
08:59It doesn't seem that you fear anything.
09:00Oh, I feel I'm in I'm in normal human being.
09:03And, you know, there's things, of course, like when I'm hiking, I live out in the wilderness.
09:07And when I'm hiking, I'm I'm conscientious of the that it's I'm in somebody else's house, this wild animal.
09:13So I'm in their house.
09:14I have to be respectful.
09:16I wouldn't say I was necessarily scared, but I am conscientious and aware of of the wild animals that are out there.
09:23Right. And respectful of them.
09:26So that's one thing, you know, I don't know what else I'm afraid of.
09:31You know, for a long time, I was afraid of the, you know, when it's too dark, you know, so when I was a kid and I still have that a little bit.
09:40It's it's always nice to be home with another person versus by yourself when you're alone.
09:44Yeah. You know, like it's so you always listen to the cracks and the noises in your house or in your spacecraft or whatever, if you're alone or by yourself at some period of time.
09:52So it's always nice to have somebody else around that's a little more comforting.
09:56I wouldn't necessarily say I was super scared, but it's uncomfortable.
10:00Have you watched Interstellar?
10:01I've watched part of it. It's a long movie.
10:04Yes.
10:05So I haven't watched the whole thing.
10:06So I do need to go back and watch it because it's been recommended a number of times to me.
10:10With whatever little bit you watch, do you see any similarities at all?
10:13I, I, yes, yes, yes.
10:15There's problems and you handle you handle them piece by piece by piece.
10:19And there's a human aspect of that also.
10:21Right. So I think, you know, we want to maintain our relationships with with people and you don't want to explode or have and, you know, get aggravated and stuff because that doesn't really help solve the problem.
10:34We wish you well.
10:35We wish you good health and we hope to see you back in India.
10:38Thank you for doing this.
10:39Thank you so much.
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