Commander of the US navy and NASA astronaut Sunita Williams-. an icon for youth all over the world, this woman has shown us that nothing is impossible. She epitomizes the spirit - 'the sky is not the limit'.

IIT Bombay's annual aerospace festival Zephyr provided school and college students the opportunity to interact with Sunita Williams and to hear about her experiences in outer space. It was a memorable experience and I'd like to share some of the things I learnt with the readers of OT.

About her experiences in space

Sunita Williams came to the event wearing her NASA uniform. And she spoke and answered questions for 2 hours. She first spoke about her 'summer vacation' in space and showed us footage of the astronauts lived inside the spaceship Discovery to give us a feel for life in outerspace. The astronauts worked on constructing the International Space Station. They also conducted several scientific experiments and had to maintain the spaceship themselves. She shared with us some of her fun experiences- of how they ate dehydrated food from packets and how eating was an adventure, and how they floated across the spacecraft, the exercise regime that they followed, etc. One of the experiments the crew conducted was growing a soybean plant in the spaceship's zero gravity environment. The roots of the plant actually spread out like an octopus. And the plant grew in the direction of a source of light wherever it was- top bottom left right, and the roots aligned themselves in the opposite direction, breaking the whole conventional idea that we have of a plant with it's roots in the soil and growing upwards. It was really fascinating. We all have a deep curiosity about what life can be like outside earth and Sunita Williams attempted to give us a glimpse of this extraterrestrial world.

In the zero gravity atmosphere in space you have to think differently about doing all the mundane things that you do without a thought here on earth. She impressed upon us that on earth we have a two dimensional view of things. Being in space exposes you to the third dimension and actually changes the way you look at things. When she enters a room now, she tries to imagine the walls as a ceiling and a floor and what fun it would be to float across the room. This new perspective is what humans have got from space travel.

She was asked questions about how the human body can survive in space and she told us the changes that occur in the body. The brain takes time to adjust, but slowly the body adapts to the environment. One interesting change is that the calluses on the soles of the foot disappear and there are calluses instead on the upper part of the foot because it is this part that is used to hold onto things while you float around. There are so many rapid bodily changes that make it a bit challenging to adapt to living in space and then adapt back to life on earth. And in all this she stressed on the importance of being healthy.

About space travel and being an astronaut

One thing that a lot of people wanted to know about was the future of space travel and how to be an astronaut. She talked about space travel as a series of steps that take us closer to understanding the universe. The next step will be living on the moon and then on Mars. At each stage we learn a little more and find questions that we didn't know about earlier which lead us to the next level. And she said that it is the responsibility of today's youth to carry the legacy forward and answer all these new questions. As for being an astronaut, she stressed on the fact that being an astronaut is something anyone can do. It seems grand and inaccessible but it isn't. And she also talked about how there are doctors, engineers, geologists, etc working in NASA and how we can find a lot of things to do. Maths and science is the foundation. She also answered a lot of technical questions on the nature of space flights and space crafts and the challenges that are faced by astronauts.

About her life and people who inspired her

She shared a little information about her life and how she became an astronaut. She initially wanted to be a veterinarian because she loves animals but didn't get into a college of her choice. She then got a chance to train as a helicopter pilot, worked in the US navy and it was only then that she seriously considered becoming an astronaut. What she stressed on was that life isn't always going to go the way you planned and sometimes things may not shape up the way you wanted them too. It's important to take all these incidences and make the most of them, because they may actually lead you to what you truly want to be or to do. And above all, she stressed on the fact that she isn't someone extraordinary. She's someone just like all of us. She urged us “I hope all the young girls see some of themselves in me”. There are no barriers and “It's your life and you can do anything you want with it”.

One of the people who inspired her was her father who took the decision at an early age to come to a totally new land and start a new life from scratch. He inspired her with his bravery. And her mother inspired her and encouraged her throughout. One of her strongest idols is Mahatma Gandhi, because he was “somebody who had a clear vision and didn't even have to go to space to get that”.

Her message for the youth

I would like to end with 3 main messages that Sunita Williams had for all the youth. She talked about how beautiful the earth looks from outerspace. You see the beautiful geography of the place but you never see your hometown or country. There are no political boundaries that are visible- it is only one whole beautiful planet. And in her words, all those political boundaries between regions, “those are just things that we draw, they aren't really there”. That was her greatest impression from outer space. Diversity is essential because it gives us different perspectives, but there are no real barriers between people, they are just things that we have created. And when asked about India's space programme, what she said was very poignant- “When we leave the planet, we ought to go as human beings and not as people from some country. We shouldn't have a flag of our country on the spacesuit- we should just carry a picture of the earth”.

Another important thing that she said was that when she saw the earth from outer space, she saw this thin blue line - the atmosphere. And that made her realize how vulnerable are we on earth- there is just that line between the safety on earth and the harsh environment outside and once that line is destroyed we face great danger. That shows how important it is to protect the earth and “leave it just as we found it”. “There is only a thin line between the earth and the vicious environment outside- I challenge you to take care of that little blue line”.

And the third important message was for all the young girls who think they can't do something because of their gender. You may think there are barriers or the people around you may think there are borders to what you can do, but “these are just borders in your mind- they don't really exist”. She talked about how the helicopter or the spacesuit didn't know she was a girl. “Women can do everything if they believe they can” was her message- a truly inspirational message for every young girl in the world.

So that was Sunita Williams. She provided us with a beautiful perspective of life beyond the bounds of the earth- something that we just imagine. She inspired us to “believe in our dreams- because they do come true”. Sunita Williams shows us how to be rooted and down to earth even as we take to the skies and that is what we need to learn from her. And above all her message of going beyond the limits of region or gender- a message of the oneness of human beings and their tremendous power is something that we all need to keep with us forever.

About Sunita Williams

Records in outer space

- Jagruti Wandrekar

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