[sarex] Astronaut Suni Williams Available for Interviews

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORD - AMSAT A/C #31468

> June 26, 2007
>
> John Yembrick
> Headquarters, Washington
> 202-358-3749
>
> James Hartsfield
> Johnson Space Center, Houston
> 281/483-5111 
>
> RECORD-BREAKING ASTRONAUT SUNI WILLIAMS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
>
> HOUSTON - NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who returned to Earth last 
> week after the longest space voyage ever by a woman, will be 
> available for satellite interviews on NASA Television from 5:30 - 8 
> a.m. CDT Friday, June 29.
>
> Williams spent 195 days in space, 190 of them as a flight engineer 
> aboard the International Space Station. Although this was her first 
> spaceflight, Williams also broke the record for most hours outside a 
> spacecraft by a woman after completing four spacewalks with a total 
> time of 29 hours, 17 minutes.
>
>
>
> Williams launched on space shuttle Discovery's STS-116 mission in 
> December 2006. She then joined the Expedition 14 crew aboard the 
> station and stayed on the complex to become a member of the 
> Expedition 15 crew in April. She came home on space shuttle Atlantis' 
> STS-117 mission that landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on 
> Friday, June 22.
>
> During her stay on orbit, Williams worked with experiments across a 
> wide variety of fields, including human life sciences, physical 
> sciences and Earth observation. She also performed education and 
> technology demonstrations. The experiments conducted by Williams will 
> help pave the way for future spaceflights.
>
> "The six months that astronauts spend on the International Space 
> Station is analogous to the six months they would spend in transit to 
> get to Mars," said Dr. J.D. Polk, chief of NASA's Medical Operations 
> Branch at Johnson. "Suni's work on the life sciences experiments, and 
> indeed Suni herself by virtue of her physiologic data, give us keen 
> insight that will be needed for exploration beyond Earth."
>
> 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. 
>
> "It is so great to see more and more astronauts, both female and male, 
> having the privilege to live for extended periods in space," said 
> astronaut Shannon Lucid, the previous holder of the female space 
> endurance record. "These flights are providing the needed confidence 
> so that some day in the near future we can depart low Earth orbit and 
> head on out to Mars."
>
> Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio, and grew up in Needham, Mass., near 
> Boston. She is a commander in the U.S. Navy and was selected as an 
> astronaut candidate in 1998. 
>
> Williams' biography is available on the Internet at:
>
> http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/williams-s.html 
>
> For more information about NASA, visit:
>
> http://www.nasa.gov
>
> 	
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