Sunita Williams the Indian-American astrainaut has taken over the command of the International Space Station. Williams by doing so has become the second woman in the history to do so even as three member crew of the Expedition 32 returned safely on earth after wrapping up a mission lasting more than four months.
A crew of three men on a Russain made Soyuz capsule had touched down successfully in central Kazakhastan steppe this morning after they spent about 123 days at the space station. After the Soyuz spacecraft separated from the space station on Sept 16, 2012, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams took over the command of Expedition 33 at the station from Commander Gennady Padalka.
Williams will be sharing the Space Station with the veteran Russia cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide until mid of October , when three more astronauts including NASA astronaut Kevin Ford will arrive with the full crew of Expedition 33.
Williams during the change of command ceremony said, “I would like to thank our (Expedition) 32 crew mates here who have taught us how to live and work in space, and of course to have a lot of fun up in space”. Padalka now ranks fourth for the most days spent in space, a total of 711 days during four flights.
