How does India look from space? Four decades after Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma invoked poet Muhammad Iqbal’s “Saare Jahaan Se Accha” to answer this question, Indian-origin space explorer Sunita Williams reminisced about passing over the “incredible” Himalayas on board the International Space Station, a space lab that hosts astronauts from across the globe.
“Amazing, just amazing,” she replied when asked how India looked from space, back from a 286-day stay in space. “India is amazing. Every time we went over the Himalayas, Butch (Wilmore, fellow astronaut) got incredible pictures, it is just amazing,” said Ms Williams.
The US astronaut, who often talks about her Indian roots, was mesmerised by the view of the Indian landscape from above. From fishing fleets in the west to the grand Himalayas in the north, it was a home away from home for her.
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“I have described it before like this ripple that happened obviously when the plates collided and then, as it flows down into India, it is many-many colours. I think when you come from the East going into Gujarat and Mumbai, and (you see) the fishing fleet that is off the coast there, it gives you a little bit of a beacon, here we come. All throughout India, I think the impression that I had was this network of lights and from the bigger cities going to the smaller cities, and just incredible to look at night as well as during the day highlighted of course by the Himalayas which is just incredible as the forefront going down into India,” she said.
The 59-year-old astronaut is also excited about NASA’s upcoming Axiom mission that will take four astronauts to space. Among them is Subhanshu Shukla, an Indian Air Force test pilot and ISRO astronaut.
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“It’s pretty awesome. They will have a hometown hero, their own who will be able to talk about how wonderful the International Space Station is from his perspective,” she said.
Ms Williams was also asked if she would help the Indian space flight programme. “I hope we can meet up at some point and share our experiences with as many people in India – why as possible because it is a great country and another wonderful democracy. That is trying to put its foot in the space countries and would love to be a part of that and help them along,” she replied.
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Ms Williams, whose parents were born in India, also hopes to take a trip to her “father’s country”. Butch Wilmore, who was her co-traveller to the space station, does not want to be left out. “Do you plan to take your crew members on that trip with you?” he asked. “Absolutely,” she replied.
“You might stick out a little bit. That is okay. We will get you all primed to some spicy food,” she said.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore had left for the space station for an eight-day mission in June on board the Boeing Starliner. Due to propulsion issues, the spacecraft returned uncrewed, stranding the two astronauts in space.
They finally returned to earth on March 19 on board SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
