Kimmy Yam is a reporter for NBC Asian America.
Sunita Williams, an Indian American
astronaut aboard the Boeing Starliner on Wednesday morning, has been known to bring items representing her culture with her to space. Williams, 58, was part of the first crewed launch of the Starliner capsule to the International Space Station with fellow astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore. Williams, a veteran of two other space missions, previously told reporters that she brings some essentials including sacred texts Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and, of course, samosas.
selected Williams as an astronaut in 1998. She has spent a total of 322 days and performed seven space walks across her two extended missions in space. She once held the record for total cumulative space walk time by a female astronaut, but that has since been broken by Peggy Whitson. The latest launch made Williams the first woman to test an orbital spacecraft.
. Bonnie Pandya, Williams’ mother, told NBC News hours before liftoff that her daughter was in good spirits and was “so happy about going.' Minutes before the launch, Williams radioed a message back to mission control. “Let’s go, Calypso,” she said, referring to the name of the Starliner capsule. “Take us to space and back.”
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