She's packed her bags for outer space

Move over Serena and Venus Williams.

Another lady who shares your surname is going to be scaling new heights..literally!
And she’s two decades older than you, let me add.

And as Savage Garden crooned, she has packed her bags for outer space(To the Moon and back).

Sunita Williams, the 41-year Indian-American woman astronaut, who has been handpicked for NASA’s Discovery Space Shuttle crew, will embark on the 12-day mission, this Thursday, December 7, 2006, at 2135 hours IST.

The launch, the third for this year, is going to be the first night-time launch for NASA. Sunita Williams is in esteemed company, a venerated club, what with only 6 out of NASA’s 157 spacewalkers having been women. She will also perform three grueling spacewalks. For someone who lived underwater for 9 days as part of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations(NEEMO), this must be smooth sailing.

This is NASA’s fourth launch since that fateful February in 2003, when Space Shuttle Columbia (with our very own Kalpana Chawla) disintegrated into the atmosphere, killing all 7 crew-members.

A huge thumbs-up to Sunita Williams.

Attagirl!