Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams spoke about her life in space and her connection to India during a conversation with Raj Shamani on his podcast. She shared what India looks like from the International Space Station (ISS), especially when seen from orbit at night.
When Shamani asked, “How does India look like from space?”, Williams explained that taking pictures of India is not always easy. She said, “India is sometimes tricky to get a picture of because it’s a little bit hazy at times but sometimes it’s awesome. So it just depends on the weather.”
India at night looks ‘pretty spectacular’
Talking about how India appears at night, Williams said the view is stunning. “At night, India is pretty spectacular because the cities are lit up. It’s white lights and all those lights seem to be connected,” she said.
She compared the pattern of lights to the human nervous system, explaining, “It’s almost like, when I see it I think of nerves. Like pictures people have… of like… when they tell you there’s a nerve problem and these nerves are connected. India is very connected with lights at night.”
Williams mentioned that this was something she noticed clearly during her most recent visit to the ISS, unlike her earlier missions. She has travelled to space three times. Speaking about this change, she said, “That was one big impression from this time which I didn’t remember from last time.”
Daytime views: Colours, Himalayas and coastlines
She also described how India looks during the daytime from space. “Looking at India in the daytime and the colours are amazing. The Himalayas are absolutely amazing and you can sort of see… like I have said this before… feels like where the plates bumped up into each other… and you know… you know made the mountains,” she said.
Talking about the coastline, she added, “The coast is obviously cool because you can see particularly on the east side when the rivers run off how they interact with the water on that side, the different colours and swirls from that side.”
Shamani later asked her, “What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen in the space which you think is going to be hard to believe for people here?” Responding to this, Williams spoke about the increasing number of satellites. “Two different things that were different or have been different. There’s a lot of communication satellites up there now, Starlinks,” she said.
She explained how this change stood out compared to her earlier missions. “This time from 10 years ago, they fly across the view. Like, you see the stars, of course, as they’re coming, but they fly across the view, which is like, whoa, where did these all come from?”
During the podcast, Sunita Williams discussed several topics, including her childhood, her experiences in space, and what it felt like to be stuck in space for months. The 60-year-old astronaut recently announced her retirement from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).