Sunita Williams by Rachna Bhola ‘Yamini’

Sunita Williams is the second woman astronaut of Indian descent chosen by NASA for a space mission. The first one was Kalpana Chawla. The only difference is that Kalpana was born and brought up in India and had Indian parents while Sunita was born in America. Her father is an Indian from Gujarat while her mother is from Slovakia. She is also the second woman astronaut of Slovakian origin, the first being Ronald M. Sega.
She was born on September 19, 1965 at Elucid-Ohio in America and is the youngest of three children. Though an American she is of Indian and Slovenian descent. Her father, Dr. Deepak Pandya is an Indian from Gujarat and her mother Bonnie Pandya belongs to Slovakia. Pandya came to US with his brothers. He is a famous neuroanatomist, and is still engaged in research and Bonnie has worked as an X-ray technician. With this background at home Sunita aspired to be a veterinarian. Her parents reside in Falmouth, Massachusetts.