06.28.

07

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3749

RELEASE: M07-074

RECORD-BREAKING ASTRONAUT SUNI WILLIAMS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS

HOUSTON - NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who returned to Earth last

week after the longest space voyage ever by a woman, will be
available for satellite interviews on NASA Television from 5:30 - 8
a.m. CDT Friday, June 29.

Williams spent 195 days in space, 190 of them as a flight engineer

aboard the International Space Station. Although this was her first
spaceflight, Williams also broke the record for most hours outside a
spacecraft by a woman after completing four spacewalks with a total
time of 29 hours, 17 minutes.

To participate in the interviews, reporters should contact NASA's

Johnson Space Center Newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 12 p.m.
CDT Thursday, June 28. As her post-flight activities permit, Williams
also will be available for more extended interviews and appearances.
B-roll of Williams' flight will air at 5 a.m. CDT Friday, June 29,
prior to the start of interviews.

Williams launched on space shuttle Discovery's STS-116 mission in

December 2006. She then joined the Expedition 14 crew aboard the
station and stayed on the complex to become a member of the
Expedition 15 crew in April. She came home on space shuttle Atlantis'
STS-117 mission that landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on
Friday, June 22.

During her stay on orbit, Williams worked with experiments across a

wide variety of fields, including human life sciences, physical
sciences and Earth observation. She also performed education and
technology demonstrations. The experiments conducted by Williams will
help pave the way for future spaceflights.

"The six months that astronauts spend on the International Space

Station is analogous to the six months they would spend in transit to
get to Mars," said Dr. J.D. Polk, chief of NASA's Medical
Operations Branch at Johnson. "Suni's work on the life sciences
experiments, and indeed Suni herself by virtue of her physiologic
data, give us keen insight that will be needed for exploration beyond
Earth."

Williams' time on the station was not all work. In April, she became
the first person officially to run a marathon in space, participating
in the 2007 Boston Marathon.

"It is so great to see more and more astronauts, both female and
male, having the privilege to live for extended periods in
space," said astronaut Shannon Lucid, the previous holder of the
female space endurance record. "These flights are providing the
needed confidence so that some day in the near future we can depart
low Earth orbit and head on out to Mars."

Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio, and grew up in Needham, Mass., near
Boston. She is a commander in the U.S. Navy and was selected as an
astronaut candidate in 1998.

Williams' biography is available on the Internet at:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/williams-s.html

For more information about NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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