NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who is currently in space on an extended stay thanks to certain faults in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft onboard which she launched to the International Space Centre in June, will be celebrating her birthday is space this month. This will the second space birthday for the veteran astronaut who has been to space twice before, spending a total of 322 days, cumulatively, outside Earth. NASA has said Sunita Williams, along with fellow astronaut Barry 'Butch' Wilmore, will return in February 2025 aboard a SpaceX capsule. By then, the retired Navy pilot would have spent nearly 550 days in space.  


Being a pilot, however, was not her "first choice as a career".


The Ohio-born and Massachusetts-raised Naval aviator wanted to be a diver, she said during an episode of Houston We Have a Podcast, official podcast of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in March 2024.


So, What Changed Her Mind?


The 1986 hit, Top Gun. Or rather Tom Cruise who played the iconic Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a hotshot naval aviator who Sunita Williams found to be "cool" — so much so that she decided to come a jet pilot herself.  


"Being a pilot wasn’t actually my first choice as a career in the Navy. I actually wanted to be a diver. But Top Gun came out and I saw how cool Tom Cruise was, and I wanted to be a jet pilot, so I went to flight school," she said during the podcast, in reply to a query on what made her interested in flying, as a pilot or an astronaut.


"I wanted to be a jet pilot, but I came a helicopter pilot and I loved it from the first time I started," Williams added.



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Sunita Williams On Becoming A Helicopter Pilot


Sunita Williams did a bachelor’s in physical science from the US Naval Academy, and then a Master of Science in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology. 


She shared during the podcast how learning to fly was an "awesome" experience. 


"The first time I got in a helicopter, I was like, 'Wow, this is fun.' You know, you just pick off the ground and you’re just sort of flying around like at like two feet off the ground. And...learning how to fly was awesome, of course. And then...being a test pilot as a helicopter pilot was just incredible," she said. 


While in the US Navy, Williams flew more than 30 different aircraft, most of them helicopters, and accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours. The naval aviator served overseas also, and in leadership roles, before she was selected for the US Naval Test Pilot School.


As a test pilot, she served as a rotary wing instructor, and flew different types of helicopters before being selected as an astronaut in 1998. 


Williams has since flown thrice to the station — in 2006-07, in 2012, and the latest in 2024. While the first two were long duration missions, the Boeing Starliner crew test flight was supposed to be a 10-day expedition that got extended due to safety reasons. 


During her two previous spaceflights, Sunita Williams did a total of seven spacewalks, spending 50 hours and 40 minutes outside the space station.


IN PICS | What Sunita Williams And Butch Wiliiams Have Been Doing Aboard ISS As Mission Gets Extended 



Tom Cruse As Maverick In Top Gun


For Tom Cruise, Top Gun was the film that cemented his status as a Hollywood superstar. Maverick, his character, is known for his rebellious attitude, cocky confidence, and exceptional flying skills, making him an enduring symbol of daring and independence. While the film's blend of adrenaline-fuelled aerial sequences, action, and emotional depth contributed to its massive success, Cruise's performance became one of the most defining moments of his career.


Decades later, the star reprised the age-defying role in Top Gun: Maverick (2022), in which Maverick returns as a mentor to a new generation of pilots.


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