New Delhi: Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds the record for the longest space flight by a woman astronaut, has a date with India. She will start her India trip on April 1 from the national capital. She will be speaking with students at the National Science Centre in the national capital. Following that she will meet the President Pranab Mukherjee before leaving for Kolkata.
"The centre will host Sunita L Williams (Captain, US Navy) and NASA astronaut on April 1. She will be interacting with a select group of students and teachers," an official of the NSC said.
The astronaut will also fly to Mumbai and spend April 3-4 in the financial capital, before going to Gujarat. Her father is from Gujarat's Mehsana district.
In Mumbai, she will visit a working women's hostel managed by the Indian Council of Social Welfare in Chembur and talk to residents and students. She will hold another interactive session with school children at the Nehru Science Centre in Worli.
Her final destination in India would be Gujarat, where she is expected to meet relatives and pay a visit to her ancestral village. Williams, who was bestowed an honorary doctorate degree by the Gujarat Technical University, will address students there.
Williams last visited India in October 2007, when she gave a talk at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. Williams holds the world record with 50 hours and 40 minutes for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.
In addition, she has spent a total of 322 days in space (on two missions) and now ranks sixth on the US endurance list and second for a female astronaut.
(With Additional Inputs From IANS)
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