Remarks
of
U.S. Consul General Henry V. Jardine
at the
DVC WITH ASTRONAUT SUNITA WILLIAMS
American Center, Kolkata
July 20, 2007

July 20, 2007

Good evening friends. In a short while we will all have an opportunity to speak to NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams. We will hear her experiences in space, and you will have the opportunity to ask her a few questions.  Obviously 60 minutes is too short a time for anyone to narrate -- to use her own words -- the "amazing experience" of being the first woman Astronaut to have spent more time in space, 195 days, than any woman.  With this Williams surpassed Shannon Lucid’s mark of 188 days and 4 hours, set in 1996.  But this was not the only record she broke.  Williams also broke the record for most hours outside a spacecraft by a woman after completing four spacewalks totaling 29 hours, 17 minutes.   Williams' time on the station was not all work. In April, she became the first person officially to run a marathon in space, participating in the 2007 Boston Marathon.

She accomplished these feats during her first spaceflight on the Space Shuttle STS-116 Discovery, launched on December 11, 2006. She then joined the Expedition 14 crew aboard the station where she became a member of the Expedition 15 crew in April. She returned on Atlantis' STS-117 mission that landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California in June.

I understand nationality, ethnicity or such other backgrounds play no role in the careful selection of crew members for such historic space missions.  Individual merit and capability, and other scientific considerations, are the only criteria that finally matter.  However, as an American diplomat serving in India, I cannot but underline the happy coincidence that such a feat has been achieved by a woman of Indian origin, at a time when two of the world's largest democracies are witnessing a closer collaboration in a host of fields, including space research.

I understand Ms. Williams was particularly delighted to have found saag paneer and chhole in her “bonus containers” which she shared with her crew mates.  “Maybe a little too hot for some” without rice, roti or raita, she said during a mid-flight interview, adding with expectation, “Hopefully I’ll be getting some samosas before too long.”  I have not yet been able to find out if those reached her in time!!!

Williams is the daughter of neuro-anantomist Dr. Deepak Pandya and his wife, Bonnie, of Massachusetts. After graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, Williams became an engineer and a test pilot before being selected by NASA’s Astronaut Candidate School in 1998.  

During her stay on orbit, Williams worked on various experiments, including human life and physical sciences and Earth observation, as well as education and technology demonstrations.

Some of these experiments have given scientists critical insight into the effects of weightlessness on the human body while other experiments have demonstrated ways to prevent muscle and bone loss.

While in space, Williams used blood analysis to better understand nutrition in space, a key consideration of astronauts.

 “Her mission has been critically important to our overall space program,” said NASA Astronaut Eileen Collins, another female pioneer in spaceflight. Collins became the first woman to command a spaceflight mission during the STS-93 mission on Space Shuttle Columbia. “She truly is a space marathoner who shows young women everywhere that there's a place in the space program for them.”

Williams likes to consider all her achievements as the result of excellent team-work. She noted, “One of the really great aspects of the International Space Station (ISS) is that it is international. We’ve had 16 countries working on this project. It’s one of the most amazing engineering projects in the world.” Countries that were formerly at odds now join together on engineering, and medical and scientific research of all types on the International Space Station. “I think that’s just an example…of how to work together,” she said.

Major researches in almost all fields of science now demands international collaboration.  And perhaps today such collaboration is most important in meeting one of the key challenges facing human civilization today.  Space research has an essential role to play in protecting our environment by providing important data about the Earth's atmosphere.  That is also one of the key messages that Ms. Williams wanted to highlight: “It just makes you realize a lot of things about your life, not only about people but the planet.” She said that from the space station windows, “You can see the small, little atmosphere that protects us. We are only 200 miles or so above the earth and we are already in a microgravity environment where it’s very harsh, in the vacuum of space. And it’s hot and cold out there, and you realize there’s not much protecting this planet.” She adds, “We need to take care of it.” Simple words, these, but of great significance for us and for future generations.

With that in mind, I would like to pass the mike to Dr. Sandip Chakravarti, Professor, Astrophysics Group, S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences.

Dr. Chakrabarti did his Masters in Physics from IIT, Kanpur, and his Ph. D. from the Department of Physics, University of Chicago. He has been a R. C. Tollman Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. He has been a Senior Research Associate at the NASA. He has delivered talks and participated in numerous astrophysics conferences almost all across the world. Dr. Chakrabarti is a member of the International Astronomical Union, and a Life Member of the Indian Association of General Relativity and Gravitation. 

Prof. Chakrabarti we are glad to have you here.

Just one small announcement, before I end, as you may be aware all the four U.S. Missions in India will join this DVC interaction with Astronaut Williams.  Keeping in mind the paucity of time, each post has been allotted about 15 minutes for putting questions, during which we hope to be able to ask her about 5 questions from each post. I request you to jot down your questions ahead of time, and pass on to me and Dr. Chakrabarti.  We will try to include as many questions as possible.

Thank you once again.  Professor Chakrabarti . . .