NASA astronaut Sunita Williams celebrated her 59th birthday on September 19, 2024 in a remarkable setting, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which orbits 400 kilometres above Earth. This is the second time Williams has celebrated her birthday in space, previously during a 2012 mission.
Since June 6, 2024, she and fellow NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore have been on the ISS as part of the Boeing Crew Flight Test mission. Their stay has been unexpectedly prolonged due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, pushing their return to February 2025. Let’s take a moment to highlight some of her achievements on this special occasion of her birthday.
Sunita Williams Celebrates Her 59th Birthday In Space
The birthday celebration comes during a busy time for the ISS crew, but Sunita Williams' accomplishments have not gone unnoticed on Earth. Saregama, a prominent Indian music company, has gifted her a unique birthday surprise, sharing the video on their Instagram.
To commemorate her 59th birthday, a group of Indian singers and celebrities has come together to perform a special version of the classic birthday song, "Bar bar din ye aaye," originally sung by the legendary Mohd Rafi. Film director Karan Johar begins the video with a personalised message for Williams, followed by renowned artists Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Hariharan, and Neeti Mohan, each contributing their voices to the beloved song.
The video also features veteran actor Jeetendra Kapoor, who appeared in the original music video for ‘Bar bar din ye aaye,’ offering his own heartfelt birthday wishes. Another video showcases musical legends like Shankar Mahadevan, Anup Jalota, Salim Merchant, Ila Arun, Haricharan Seshadri, and Shraddha Pandit as they share their renditions of the song.
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Sunita Williams Achievements
Sunita William’s First Space Achievement
Williams' remarkable journey into space started with the STS-116 mission on December 9, 2006, aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Serving as a flight engineer for Expeditions 14 and 15, she achieved several records for women in space, including over 29 hours of spacewalks and more than 195 days spent in orbit, as per NASA.
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Sunita Williams Commercial Crew Programme
As per the official page NASA, in 2015, Williams was selected as one of the astronauts for NASA’s Commercial Crew programme, which focuses on developing private spacecraft for ISS missions. In 2024, she took the helm of the inaugural crewed test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. Despite facing technical challenges like thruster failures and helium leaks, she successfully docked the spacecraft with the ISS.
Sunita Williams Expedition 32 and 33
On July 15, 2012, Williams began her second space mission aboard Soyuz TMA-05M, initially serving as a flight engineer for Expedition 32 and later taking on the role of commander for Expedition 33. During this mission, she conducted three more spacewalks, totalling over 50 hours outside the ISS. Additionally, she completed a triathlon in orbit using equipment from the space station, further establishing her reputation for breaking new ground.
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Credits: Instagram
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