Space makes human differences seem silly, says Sunita Williams

Astronaut Sunita Williams said seeing Earth from space changes how one views life and human differences. Speaking in New Delhi, she described space travel as a team effort and stressed the need for countries to work together

New Delhi: Astronaut Sunita Williams said space travel has changed her perspective towards life in general, and the idea of humans arguing or having differences over issues seems so “silly” when you look at Earth as “one planet” from outer space.

Williams, 60, who recently retired from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is currently visiting India. She was speaking at an interactive session titled “Eyes on the Stars, Feet on the Ground,” hosted at the American Center here.

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During the conversation, she spoke about her most recent mission, which saw an intended eight-day test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) extend to over nine months due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Williams described space travel as the ultimate “team sport”, adding that countries need to work together as “this is our one planet, we are here together”.

“When you get to space, I think everybody does this… we all want to look for our home. My father is from India and my mother is from Slovenia. So I’m obviously looking for these places to call home. And that’s your first objective,” she said.

However, she noted that this initial search for a specific home eventually evolves into a broader realisation of the Earth’s unity. “Our planet is alive. Some people think there are just rocks out there, but it is moving. I could see seasons, changes in oceans’ colours with algae blooms, for example, or seeing ice formations in the north, you know, in the high northern hemisphere or down near Antarctica,” she said.

She said looking at this beautiful, living planet from up there changes one’s perspective towards life. “It changes one’s perception about people having any differences. It makes you feel like we are just one, and we all should work closer and easier together,” the astronaut said.

“And it actually sort of made me feel like, why would anybody argue about anything. I know, I’m married. I have a husband. We argue. So I understand arguments, but the reality of it is, why? You know, it seems so silly when you look at Earth from that perspective,” Williams added.

When asked if she is afraid of anything, Williams responded in a lighter vein, saying, “I’m still afraid of a lot of things. Where I live, there are some bears. I’m a little bit afraid of waking one of them up. They’re sleeping right now. That’s good.”

“So, you have to know your place in the universe and then on Earth and be careful and respectful of the animals that are around you,” she added.

The astronaut, who retired on December 27, 2025, capped a stellar 27-year career, during which she completed three missions aboard the ISS and set various human spaceflight records.

Williams logged 608 days in space, second on the list of cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut. She ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflight by an American, tied with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, both logging 286 days during NASA’s Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions, NASA said in a statement on January 20.

She also completed nine spacewalks, totalling 62 hours and 6 minutes, ranking as the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list. She also was the first person to run a marathon in space, it said.

At the American Center event titled “Eyes on the Stars, Feet on the Ground”, she was asked a range of questions, from ways to maintain mental health to managing space debris and from commercialisation of the space sector to collaboration between the public and private sectors in space missions.

Born in Ohio to Deepak Pandya and Ursuline Bonnie Pandya on September 19, 1965, the former US Navy captain remains a figure of immense inspiration in India.

Students attending the event noted her ability to make complex professional challenges relatable.

Aashi Baisoya, 21, pursuing a B.Tech degree from a Delhi-based university, who attended the event along with three other classmates, said she walked out of the hall “feeling great”.

“The way astronaut Williams engaged with the audience showed not only her immense calibre and knowledge of the profession, but also how she made it relatable to the youth by sharing her own story,” she told PTI.

Kritagya Arora, 21, her classmate, echoed her views and added that the adaptability Williams demonstrated at the beginning of the session, as also her sense of humour during the interaction, was noteworthy.