Need rules of engagement for ‘space race’: Sunita Williams

NEw new delhi: thither is a rush to the blank but also to ensure it is through with(p) in a productive, democratic way just like in case Antarctica, Sunita Williams, retired NASA astronaut and US Navy veteran said on Tuesday, during her first visit to India after her return to earth following a nine month stay in the International Space Station in 2024.Williams was on a crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner which was supposed to last eight days but ended up lasting nine months due to a number of technical problems. Williams stressed on two of her learnings throughout her talk– that human beings are together and hence conflicts often seem silly and that space work is a team effort which will require democratic collaboration from countries.“A space race. I mean, I think there is a space race going on. I think people have talked about that. There is. You know, we want to get back to the moon. We want to get back to the moon sustainably. We want to get back to the moon to sort of start the conversation about rules of engagement and how we actually work on the moon, how we work together with other countries on the moon. So, yes, there is a race to ensure that we do this in a productive, democratic way, just like Antarctica. I mean, it’s the same type of thing,” Williams said, adding: “We want to get back to the moon so we can all be there at the same time and work together.”At a time when several geopolitical conflicts are facing the world, Williams stressed that the view of earth was very different from the ISS.“I mean, one of the first things you do, I think, when you get to space, I think everybody does this. I might be talking out of turn, but I think we all want to look for our home, like our immediate home. I grew up in Massachusetts. My father’s from India. My mother’s from Slovenia. So I’m obviously looking for these places to call home,” she said.“And that’s your first objective…its really looking at the planet as one planet. Our planet is alive. Some people think there’s just rocks out there. But it’s moving. I couldn’t see those specific movements, but I could see the atmosphere. I could see the interaction. I could see the seasons. I could see the changes in the ocean colors with algae blooms, for example, or seeing ice formations in the high northern hemisphere or down near Antarctica. You can see all of this, this planet which is connected,” Williams said.“And you think to yourself, of course the air and the water are connected. And then you think to yourself, for me, it was like, oh, my God, every person I know is there. Every animal, every plant, everything we know is there. And we’re all on this one, they call it a little spaceship in our solar system. And, you know, I think it changes your perception about us having any differences. It really makes you feel like we are just one, and we all should probably work a little bit closer and easier together,” she said. Williams later also said that “Because I think my biggest impression, which I mentioned earlier today, is that people are nice. People are good.And we forget that sometimes by the distractions of life. Because we get to argue about, you know, this or that, religion, politics, blah, blah, blah. But we’re all people. And we care about each other. And that was like one of my biggest lessons learned.”On HT’s question about mental capabilities that helped her reconcile with uncertainty during those nine months at ISS, Williams said:“I think that I’m one of these people who’s a doer, right? So I can’t sit still. And there was a little bit of time, but we didn’t have things to do anyway. So in the meantime, I’d like to fill my time.I knew that there were like 12, and then nine people up there more than usual, which meant we were going through a lot of food. We were going through a lot of toilet materials as well. So somebody has to restock the food. Someone has to do the toilet maintenance. And so I hadn’t been trained on all the experiments, but I had been, before I lived on the space station, so I’m very well familiar with those basic activities. So not the most glamorous, but right away, raise your hand, hey, I’ll do that,” she laughed. Williams filled her time by focusing on the nuts and bolts of continuing the mission.“I will occupy my time in helping the bigger picture, the team, the collaboration to make sure that the people who are doing the science experiments can do that without ever thinking about those other things. So that’s my method.”The most challenging part for her was: “I think the hardest part was really not knowing. I think that’s the hardest part of everything in life, right? Not knowing something and us not waiting for it, we tried to be patient in waiting for the decision to decide whether or not we were going to fly back on Starliner or we were going to wait. Once that decision was made, we knew we were there for six more months because spacecrafts are expensive. We’re at a rotation, a regular rotation, and we knew we would be coming back with the next group.”On the expansion of the private sector in space, Williams said: “I mean, I’ve been in this business long enough to have doubts from the beginning, right? We had our first space tourist, Dennis Tito, coming to the International Space Station. Everybody was up in arms, going, oh boy, he might press the wrong button. Something bad might happen, you know. All this kind of stuff was going on. And yes, the space station is not made like a hotel.”It is made like a laboratory. So there are some dangerous things there, but we can train people, she said. “Human beings are smart. And that, you know, has now grown all the way to we are ready to have a commercial Leo destination. And what it means in the United States, at least, is, you know, I don’t have the knowledge all over the world, but in the United States there are opportunities for people to work in so many different companies.”The talk held at American Center on Tuesday was attended by Indian-American astronaut and aerospace engineer Kalpana Chawla’s mother and two sisters. Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space. Chawla’s eldest sister, Sunita Chaudhry(71) shared bitter-sweet memories of Chawla’s grit and passion, which the family was not aware of. “She used to be in her imaginary world as a child and possibly was very curious about space. But she never revealed that to us. She may have thought that we would not believe her.” Chaudhry, speaking with HT said both Williams and Chawla have grit that is not seen and as astronauts they make everything sound simple. The family had come to meet Williams because of her long and close association with Chawla. Williams was visibly happy and moved to meet the family, especially Chawla’s 89 year old mother, Sanjogta Chawla.