Sunita Lyn Williams (née Pandya; born September 19, 1965), nicknamed Suni in the United States and Sončka in Slovenia, is an American astronaut, United States Navy officer, and former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes). Williams was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33.
Early life and education
Williams is a native of Needham, Massachusetts, was born in Euclid, Ohio, to Mumbai Indian-American neuroanatomist Deepak Pandya and Slovene-American Ursuline Bonnie (Zalokar) Pandya, who reside in Falmouth, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of three children. Her brother Jay Thomas is four years older and her sister Dina Annad is three years older. Williams' paternal family is from Jhulasan in the Mehsana district in Gujarat, India, whereas her maternal family is of Slovene descent. Williams has taken the Slovenian...