Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who started her journey back to Earth today from the International Space Station (ISS) after being stuck there for over nine months, received a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a March 1 letter posted on X today by Union Minister Jitendra Singh, the Prime Minister claimed that during his meetings with President Donald Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, while in the United States, he had asked about the welfare of Ms. Williams, who had flown to the orbital lab on June 5 of last year.
Hours after Ms. Williams and her coworker, Butch Wilmore, disembarked from the ISS for a 17-hour journey home, the letter was made public. Get live updates about Sunita Williams’ homecoming here.
PM Modi recalled that her name had been mentioned during a meeting with former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino in Delhi earlier this month.
“We talked about how pleased we are with your job. I could not help but write to you after this encounter,” PM Modi remarked.
“Your accomplishments have always been a source of immense pride for the 1.4 billion Indians. Recent events have once again demonstrated your remarkable resilience and tenacity,” he wrote.
The Prime Minister remarked, “I am sure that Late Deepakbhai’s blessings are with you as well,” in reference to her father, Deepak Pandya, who lived in his native Gujarat and passed away in 2020.
Additionally, PM Modi stated that he “fondly” recalls meeting him and her when he was in the US in 2016.
“Despite the fact that you live thousands of miles away, you never truly leave our hearts. PM Modi informed the 59-year-old astronaut, “The Indian people are praying for your health and success in your mission.”
We are excited to meet you in India once you get back. “India will be delighted to welcome one of its most distinguished daughters,” he continued.
Michael Williams, her husband, also received his “warm greetings” from him.
In June, Sunita Williams took a flight to the space station.
On June 5 of last year, Sunita Williams and her coworker Butch Wilmore took a scheduled round-trip flight to the orbiting lab to test out Boeing’s Starliner on its maiden crewed flight.
However, the spaceship’s propulsion issues made it unsuitable for returning them. Rather, it came back uncrewed.
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In order to accommodate the stranded astronauts, the two were then transferred to the NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which in September of last year sent a Dragon spacecraft to the ISS with a team of two—American astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—instead of the customary four.
