Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has been stuck in space for nearly five months along with Butch Wilmore. During a recent livestream, Williams sent Diwali Greetings to everyone celebrating the festival of lights in the US and around the globe.
She stated, “I want to extend my warmest wishes for a Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating today at the White House and around the world.” She said that this year, she has a unique opportunity to celebrate Diwali, “260 miles above the earth”. Williams also remembered his late father Deepak Pandya, saying that he shared and kept his cultural roots by teaching her about Diwali and other Indian festivals.
#WATCH | Washington DC | White House Diwali Celebrations | NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams shares a video message on Diwali from the International Space Station.
She says, “Greetings from the ISS. I want to extend my warmest wishes for a Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating… pic.twitter.com/YEv3wNAxW9
— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2024
She said, “Diwali is a time of joy as goodness in the world prevails…” She also thanked US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for celebrating the festival with the community. She stated, “Thank You to the President and the Vice President for celebrating Diwali with our community today and for recognising the many contributions of our community.”
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She expressed gratitude that she grew up in a multi-cultural household where “ our parents always encouraged us to seek opportunities and reach for the stars”.
Notably, back on June 5, the two astronauts, Williams and Wilmore left for international Space Station in Boeing’s test flight Starliner. This spacecraft later became faulty and was declared unfit for the astronauts. Scheduled to be a 7-day mission, it had to be extended till February 2025.
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Happy Diwali to all from Far Beyond the Stars. Sunita Williams is celebrating with people on the Earth. Osho lovers celebrate everything. Greetings to Sunita ji. @ANI #Osholovers
— Sw. Chaitanya Keerti ( Narain Das ) (@keertiswami) October 29, 2024
Starliner landed back on earth safely uncrewed. It was decided that the two stranded astronauts will now return to earth in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, that is now docked at the International Space Station.
For the unversed, the Boeing Starliner mission marks Sunita Williams’ third journey aboard the ISS. Over her previous two missions, she has spent a total of 322 days in space. According to NASA, with 50 hours and 40 minutes, she ranks second for total cumulative spacewalk time among female astronauts.
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