Sunita Williams Sunita Lyn " Suni " Williams née Pandya ( born September 19 , 1965 ) is a former American astronaut and a United States Navy officer . She holds the records for longest single space flight by a woman ( 195 days ) , total 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 . Ancestry and early life . Sunita Williams was born in Euclid , Ohio , to Indian American neuroanatomist Deepak Pandya and Slovene American Ursuline Bonnie Pandya ( née Zalokar ) , who have three children and reside in Falmouth , Massachusetts . Sunita is the youngest of three siblings , her brother Jay Thomas is four years older and her sister Dina Anna is three years older . Williams ’ paternal ancestry is from Jhulasan , Mehsana district in Gujarat , India , while her maternal great grandmother Mary Bohinc ( originally Marija Bohinjec ) , born 5 September 1890 in Leše , immigrated to America as eleven years old girl with her mother , an 1891 Slovene emigrant Ursula Bohinc née Strajhar . Williams graduated from Needham High School in Needham , Massachusetts , in 1983 . She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987 , and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995 . Military career . Williams was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy in May 1987 . After a six - month temporary assignment at the Naval Coastal System Command , she was designated a Basic Diving Officer . She next reported to the Naval Air Training Command , where she was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1989 . She received initial H - 46 Sea Knight training in Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 3 ( HC - 3 ) , and was then assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 ( HS - 8 ) in Norfolk , Virginia , with which she made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean , Red Sea and the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Provide Comfort . In September 1992 , she was the Officer - in - Charge of an H - 46 detachment sent to Miami , Florida , for Hurricane Andrew relief operations aboard the USS " Sylvania " . In January 1993 , Williams began training at the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School . She graduated in December , and was assigned to the Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate as an H - 46 Project Officer and V - 22 chase pilot in the T - 2 . Later , she was assigned as the squadron Safety Officer and flew test flights in the SH - 60B / F , UH - 1 , AH - 1W , SH - 2 , VH - 3 , H - 46 , CH - 53 and the H - 57 . In December 1995 , she went back to the Naval Test Pilot School as an instructor in the Rotary Wing Department and as the school ' s Safety Officer . There she flew the UH - 60 , OH - 6 and the OH - 58 . She then went to the USS " Saipan " as the Aircraft Handler and the Assistant Air Boss . Williams was deployed on the " Saipan " in June 1998 when she was selected by NASA for the astronaut program . She has logged more than 3 , 000 flight hours in more than 30 aircraft types . NASA career . Williams began her Astronaut Candidate training at the Johnson Space Center in August 1998 . It included orientation briefings and tours , numerous scientific and technical briefings , intensive instruction in Space Shuttle and International Space Station systems , physiological training and ground school to prepare for T - 38 flight training , as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques . Following training and evaluation , Williams worked in Moscow with the Russian Space Agency on the Russian contribution to the ISS , and with the first expedition crew sent to the ISS . After Expedition 1 returned , Williams worked in the Robotics branch on the ISS Robotic Arm and the related Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator . She was a crew member on the mission , and lived underwater in the Aquarius habitat for nine days in May 2002 . In 2008 , Williams served as NASA ' s Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office . She was assigned as a backup crew member for Expedition 30 to the International Space Station , was a crew member of Expedition 32 , which launched in July 2012 , and then became the Commander of Expedition 33 , which began in September 2012 . Like many astronauts , Williams is a licensed amateur radio operator , having passed the technician - class license exam in 2001 , and was issued the call sign KD5PLB by the Federal Communications Commission on August 13 , 2001 . She used one of the two amateur radio stations aboard the ISS when she talked with school children . In 2009 , Williams appeared on the " The Colbert Report " to announce that " Tranquility " was the winning name for Node 3 of the ISS . Spaceflight experience . STS - 116 . Williams was launched to the International Space Station ( ISS ) with STS - 116 , aboard the Space Shuttle " Discovery " , on December 9 , 2006 , to join the Expedition 14 crew . In April 2007 , the Russia n members of the crew rotated , changing to Expedition 15 . Among the personal items Williams took with her to the ISS were a copy of the " Bhagavad Gita " , a small figurine of the Hindu deity Ganesha and some samosa s . Expeditions 14 and 15 . After launching aboard the Shuttle " Discovery " , Williams arranged to donate her pony tail to Locks of Love . Fellow astronaut Joan Higginbotham cut her hair aboard the International Space Station and the ponytail was brought back to Earth by the STS - 116 crew . Williams performed her first extra - vehicular activity on the eighth day of the STS - 116 mission . On January 31 , February 4 , and February 9 , 2007 , she completed three spacewalks from the ISS with Michael López - Alegría . During one of these walks , a camera became untethered , probably because the attaching device failed , and floated off to space before Williams could react . On the third spacewalk , Williams was outside the station for 6 hours and 40 minutes to complete three spacewalks in nine days . She has logged 29 hours and 17 minutes in four spacewalks , eclipsing the record held by Kathryn C . Thornton for most spacewalk time by a woman . On December 18 , 2007 , during the fourth spacewalk of Expedition 16 , Peggy Whitson surpassed Williams , with a cumulative EVA time of 32 hours , 36 minutes . In early March 2007 , she received a tube of wasabi in a Progress spacecraft resupply mission in response to her request for more spicy food . When she opened the tube , which was packaged at one atmospheric pressure , the gel - like paste was forced out in the lower pressure of the ISS . In the free - fall environment , the spicy geyser was difficult to contain . On April 16 , 2007 , she ran the first marathon by a person in orbit . Williams finished the 2007 Boston Marathon in four hours and 24 minutes . The other crew members cheered her on and gave her oranges during the race . Williams ' sister , Dina Pandya , and fellow astronaut Karen L . Nyberg ran the marathon on Earth , and Williams received updates on their progress from Mission Control . In 2008 , Williams participated in the Boston Marathon again , this time on Earth . That same year , on the game show Duel , a question was made from that event . The answers were : London , New York , International Space Station , Paris . The most correct was the ISS . On April 26 , 2007 , NASA decided to bring Williams back to Earth on the STS - 117 mission aboard " Atlantis " . She did not break the U . S . single spaceflight record that was recently broken by former crewmember Commander Michael López - Alegría , but did break the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman . Williams served as a mission specialist and returned to Earth on June 22 , 2007 , at the end of the STS - 117 mission . Poor weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral forced mission managers to skip three landing attempts there over previous 24 hours . They then diverted " Atlantis " to Edwards Air Force Base in California , where the shuttle touched down at 3 : 49 p . m . EDT , returning Williams home after a record 192 - day stay in space . Expeditions 32 and 33 . Williams launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 15 , 2012 as part of Expedition 32 / . Her Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA - 05M docked with the ISS for a four - month stay at the orbiting outpost on 17 July 2012 . The docking of the Soyuz occurred at 4 : 51 GMT as the ISS flew over Kazakhstan at an altitude of 252 miles . The hatchway between the Soyuz spacecraft and the ISS was opened at 7 : 23 GMT and Williams floated into the ISS to begin her duties as a member of the Expedition 32 crew . She was accompanied on the Soyuz TMA - 05M spacecraft by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ) astronaut Aki Hoshide and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko . Williams served as commander of the ISS during her stay onboard ISS Expedition 33 , succeeding Gennady Padalka . She became the commander of the International Space Station on September 17 , 2012 , being only the second woman to achieve the feat . Also in September 2012 , she became the first person to do a triathlon in space , which coincided with the Nautica Malibu Triathlon held in Southern California on Earth . She used the International Space Station ' s own treadmill and stationary bike , and for the swimming portion of the race , she used the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device ( ARED ) to do weightlifting and resistance exercises that approximate swimming in microgravity . After " swimming " half a mile ( 0 . 8 km ) , biking 18 miles ( 29 km ) , and running 4 miles ( 6 . 4 km ) , Williams finished with a time of one hour , 48 minutes and 33 seconds , as she reported . She returned to earth with fellow astronauts Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide on 19 November 2012 , touching down in the town of Arkalyk , Kazakhstan . Helicopters joined the search - and - recovery crew to assist them , as their capsule parachuted down some 35 kilometres from the planned touchdown site due to a procedural delay . Spacewalks . , Williams has made seven spacewalks totaling 50 hours and 40 minutes , putting Williams in No . 5 on the list of most experienced spacewalkers . On August 30 , 2012 , Williams and JAXA astronaut Hoshide ventured outside of the ISS to conduct US EVA - 18 . They removed and replaced the failing Main Bus Switching Unit - 1 ( MBSU - 1 ) , and installed a thermal cover onto Pressurized Mating Adapter - 2 ( PMA - 2 ) . 2007 visit to India . In September 2007 , Williams visited India . She went to the Sabarmati Ashram , the ashram set up by Mahatma Gandhi in 1915 , and her ancestral village Jhulasan in Gujarat . She was awarded the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award by the World Gujarati Society , the first person of Indian descent who was not an Indian citizen to be presented the award . On October 4 , 2007 , Williams spoke at the American Embassy School , and then met Manmohan Singh , the Prime Minister of India . Personal life . Williams is married to Michael J . Williams , a Federal police officer in Oregon . The two have been married for more than 20 years , and both flew helicopter s in the early days of their careers . She has a pet Jack Russell Terrier named Gorby who was featured with her on the " Dog Whisperer " television show on the National Geographic Channel on November 12 , 2010 . Her recreational interests include running , swimming , biking , triathlons , windsurfing , snowboarding and bow hunting . She is an avid Boston Red Sox fan . Williams has expressed a desire to adopt a girl from Ahmedabad .