In Conversation with Sunita Williams

It’s been 50 years since Neil Armstrong captivated the world as he took those first steps on the moon!  His words are forever etched in our memory – “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

In celebration of this historic event, we are honored to have Sunita “Suni” Williams take the stage.  Williams is a pilot, engineer, runner, swimmer, lover of pets and an astronaut.  She is also a great role model for anyone interested in space exploration.

Suni is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.  In July, 1989, she began combat helicopter training.  In 1993, she became a naval test pilot, then later became a test pilot instructor, flying more than 30 different aircraft and logging more than 3000 flight hours. Williams completed an M.S. in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne in 1995, and she entered astronaut training in 1998.

Since then, Suni has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions; she ranks second on the all-time U.S. endurance list for females. With 50 hours and 40 minutes, she is second on the list of total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.

During her time in space, she has done seven spacewalks, conducted several science experiments, completed a marathon and triathlon, and even blogged and tweeted from space—all of this while she was the Commander of Expedition 33 and manning the International Space Station. She is about to embark on another long-duration mission into space in 2020, is now on a short list of just 12 female astronauts who are hoping to go to the moon in 2024!

Suni will be introduced by former NASA astronaut & lunar-module pilot on board the 1969 Apollo 9 mission, Rusty Schweikart.  She will be interviewed by her Annapolis classmate, Bill Angeloni