Captain Sunita Williams
In brief
Captain Sunita Williams is a US Navy officer, helicopter pilot and NASA astronaut with 608 days in space and 62 hours of spacewalking, more than any woman in history. She was the second woman to command the International Space Station, the first person to run a marathon in space, and the first to complete a triathlon in orbit.
From the Navy to NASA
Born Sunita Lyn Pandya in Ohio in 1965, her father immigrated from Gujarat, India, with nothing and worked his way through university to become a neuroanatomist. She has said that felt more daring to her than anything she has done in space.
She grew up wanting to be a vet. Her brother went to the US Naval Academy and told her to try it. She had already got into Columbia, but instead she chose the Navy.
First she became a helicopter pilot and flew combat support in the Gulf War. Then she graduated from the Naval Test Pilot School and logged over 3,000 hours in more than 30 aircraft.
Suni applied to NASA and was rejected. She got her master's degree before applying again, and was selected in 1998.
What are Captain Sunita Williams' achievements in space?
In 2006 she launched to the ISS, the second American of Indian heritage to reach space, after Kalpana Chawla, who died in the Columbia disaster three years earlier.
In 2007 she became the first person to run a marathon in space, completing Boston on the ISS treadmill in 4 hours 23 minutes, harnessed by bungee cords while her crewmates tossed her orange slices.
In 2012 she became the first person to complete a triathlon in space and only the second woman to command the ISS, after Peggy Whitson.
She took samosas, a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, and the Slovenian flag to orbit. Both sides of her heritage, carried into space.
In 2024 she launched on Boeing's Starliner for an eight-day mission. It turned into 286 days. She came home on a SpaceX Dragon in March 2025 and said they never felt "stuck" even though she missed Christmas at home. They just kept working.
She retired after 27 years in service.
"Of course, I looked up to my father as a neuroscientist, was curious about his work. And the one day that he asked me about my work and said 'Wow, you know a lot about space,' that's when I knew that I think I made him a little bit proud."
Key facts
Born: 1965, Euclid, Ohio
Education: US Naval Academy; MSc in Engineering Management, Florida Institute of Technology
Military career: US Navy helicopter pilot, Naval Test Pilot School graduate, Gulf War combat support
Selected by NASA: 1998
Total time in space: 608 days
Spacewalks: 9 (62 hours, more than any woman in history)
ISS commands: 1
Notable firsts: First person to run a marathon in space. First person to complete a triathlon in space. Second woman to command the ISS. Second American of Indian heritage in space.
Last updated September 2026