Sunita Williams recalls emotional ISS journey, says she missed meeting Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla by a whisker

New Delhi, January 21. Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams has shared a poignant reflection from her time aboard the International Space Station (ISS), revealing how close she came to meeting Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla – only to miss him by days.

Speaking at an interactive session titled ‘Eyes on the Stars, Feet on the Ground’, Williams described how her very first instinct after arriving at the ISS was deeply personal.

“When I reached the International Space Station for the first time, the first thing I did was to locate India, where my father was from, and Slovenia, where my mother was from,” she said.

Floating hundreds of kilometres above Earth, the exercise was more than symbolic. For Williams, born in Ohio to an Indian-American father and a Slovenian-American mother, it was a moment of reconnection with her heritage and the people who shaped her life.

One of NASA’s most experienced astronauts, Williams has flown to space three times, spending a cumulative 608 days in orbit. She also holds the record for the longest total spacewalk time by a woman, logging 62 hours and six minutes outside the station.

Her most recent mission to the ISS in 2024 was originally scheduled to last just eight days. However, technical problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft forced repeated delays, extending her stay in space to nearly nine months.

It was during this prolonged mission that a near-miss occurred.

“Though I spent nine months in space during my latest trip to the ISS, I missed meeting Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla, who reached the station just after I left,” Williams revealed, underscoring a moment that resonated strongly with audiences in India.

Beyond the historic and emotional milestones, Williams also shared lighter anecdotes from life in orbit – admitting she often craved Indian food and even managed to run a marathon on the ISS treadmill. She said the experience of living in microgravity altered her outlook on life, joking that everyday disagreements back on Earth felt insignificant after seeing the planet from space.

Since returning to Earth in March 2025, Williams has been actively engaging with students and young scientists, particularly in India, using her journey to inspire the next generation to look beyond boundaries – both terrestrial and personal.