Former ISRO Scientist Nambi Narayanan Presses For Asian Space Agency, Recalls Meeting Sunita Williams Last Year

After 285 days in the space, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague,, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov returned to Earth. The historic and picture-perfect splashdown of the SpaceX Dragon off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of America looked seamless. 

As the spacecraft carrying the Cew-9 astronauts landed in the water, SpaceX recovery vessels jumped into action and retrieved the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, the crew members were taken to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. All four astronauts will now undergo a 45-day rehabilitation programme to adjust to the Earth's gravity. 

As Sunita Williams returned to Earth safely, former ISRO Scientist Nambi Narayanan expressed his excitement and said, “It was perfect. I enjoyed the whole thing. The touchdown was fantastic. Very happy that they are back home.”

Recalling his meeting with Sunita Williams last year in US, the veteran aerospace called her 'a lovely person with lot of affinity to India'. 

“She is very different from any other Indian-origin American person. She is proud of her Indian origin. She promised me that she will come back to India after this mission.”

Sharing his thoughts on whether we need more private players in the Space Sector, Nambi Narayanan said that more collaborations are surely needed. "Like NASA, we should have ASA - Asian Space Agency, including small countries like Japan and Gulf so that financial load of such space missions can be shared." He also lauded the enthusiasm, space awareness among teenagers today.

What awaits Sunita Williams after her return from space?

As the teams in NASA now focus on helping the four-member team of re-acclimate to the Earth's gravity after they touched down off the coast of Florida on Wednesday at 3:27 AM IST. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore spent 282 days in the space, as a part of the mission that was initially planned for only 8 days.

After the splashdown, Sunita Williams and three other astronauts were taken out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and preliminary medical evaluations were conducted which is needed as long-term exposure to microgravity can lead to challenging impacts on health when astronauts return to Earth.

For the next several days, necessary health assessments of the astronauts will be carried out at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. They will met their family members after go-ahead from NASA's flight surgeons.