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Who was Deepak Pandya? Sunita Williams remembers her Indian father during Delhi visit
Sunita Williams’s father, Deepak Pandya, died in 2020 in the USA at the age of 88.
Sunita Williams, during her recent visit to India, remembered her Indian father, Deepak Pandya. While speaking at an interactive session at New Delhi’s American Center, the former NASA astronaut spoke about her father and shared how she looked for her "immediate home” while in space.
Sunita Williams' father:
Sunita Williams' father, Deepak Pandya, was from Jhulasan, Gujarat. He passed away in 2020 in the US at the age of 88.
Also Read: Sunita Williams, currently on India tour, retires from NASA after 608 days in space
He was a neuroanatomist who started his higher educational journey with Intermediate Science (I.S.) in 1953 at Gujarat University. In 1957, he earned his MD.
In 1964, he joined the Department of Anatomy at Case Western Reserve University as a postdoctoral fellow. He met his wife and Sunita Williams’ mother, Slovenian-American Ursuline Bonnie Zalokar, in 1957.
Who is Sunita Williams’ mother?
Ursuline Bonnie Zalokar stays in Massachusetts. Earlier, when Williams was stuck in space and her return was delayed, Ursuline remained unfazed during a media interview.
"It's what they do. They like doing this and they are honoured to be able to go up on a long mission like this and, you know, they feel great about it,” she said in the interview.
Who is Sunita Williams’ husband?
Sunita Williams is married to Michael J. Williams, a Federal Marshal. She met Michael even before she joined NASA, when she was flying helicopters in the military.
The couple met at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and became friends. However, their friendship soon turned into love. They later married in a private ceremony, attended only by their loved ones.
Sunita Williams in India:
“One of the first things you do when you get to space is that we all want to look for our home, like our immediate home. I grew up in Massachusetts. My father's from India. My mother's from Slovenia. I'm obviously looking for these places to call home,” the retired astronaut said during the event at Delhi.
Also Read: Team effort, democratic collaboration among countries at heart of Sunita Williams’ learnings
While in India, she also met with late Kalpana Chawla’s mother and sister. Chawla, who was the first Indian-origin female to go to space, died with her crew when her spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. The tragic incident occurred in February 2003.
