‘Many, many colours’: How Sunita Williams describes India as seen from space

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams who recently returned from a prolonged mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), recently opened up about her experiences. Williams spent an unprecedented 278 days in orbit shared some new information about her connection with India, the country from which her father, Deepak Pandya, hailed.

Sunita Williams opens up about her plans to visit India

During a press conference on Monday, a journalist asked Sunita Williams about what India looks like from space. Without hesitation, she exclaimed, “India is amazing, just amazing,” highlighting the stunning view of the Himalayas. “Every time we went over the Himalayas, we got incredible pictures. It happened like a ripple and flows down into India," Williams said as she sat alongside Butch Wilmore, marking their first media appearance since returning to Earth.

She further described the Himalayas, explaining, "I have described it before like this ripple that happened obviously when the plates collided and then, as it flows down into India, it is many-many colours. I think when you come from the East going into Gujarat and Mumbai, and (you see) the fishing fleet that is off the coast there, it gives you a little bit of a beacon, here we come. All throughout India, I think the impression that I had was this network of lights from the bigger cities going to the smaller cities, and just incredible to look at night as well as during the day highlighted of course by the Himalayas which is just incredible as the forefront going down into India.”

When asked if she would be interested in visiting India to assist the Indian Space Research Organisation's flight program, Williams responded, “I hope we can meet up at some point and share our experiences with as many people in India - why as possible because it is a great country and another wonderful democracy. That is trying to put its foot in the space countries and would love to be a part of that and help them along.” Wilmore, who was seated beside her, quickly inquired, "Do you plan to take your crew members on that trip with you?”

"Absolutely," Williams replied, noting that her parents were born in India.

The NASA Crew-9 astronauts Williams, Nick Hague, Wilmore, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov made their return to Earth's atmosphere on March 18 after spending over nine months in space, with the successful splashdown of SpaceX's Dragon capsule occurring at 5:57 pm EDT.

Following their return, both Wilmore and Williams initiated physical therapy at the Johnson Space Center to facilitate their bodies' adjustment back to Earth's gravity, a routine process for astronauts re-entering from space.