Kochi: “If not an astronaut, I would have been a science teacher,” said NASA astronaut Sunita Williams as she made a virtual appearance at Federal Institute of Science And Technology (FISAT), Angamaly, in an interaction through Skype organised by IEEE India Council the other day.
It was the first in a series of interactive sessions by students with eminent scientists and educationists which the IEEE India Council is conducting for the benefit of its members. The programme was beamed to 17 colleges from FISAT and viewed by over 1000 students across the country.
In a one-hour interaction, the NASA astronaut , who holds the records for seven space walks by a woman, shared her experiences. Earth, she said, was still her favourite place. “Doing space walk is not easy. The feeling that only a visor separates me from the vastness of space is overwhelming,” she said from NASA.
When asked about space movies, she said ‘Gravity’ and ‘The Martian’ come close to the reality of space exploration. She asked the students to take up challenges and mentioned that life is not about going from point A to B; rather it is about the journey and enjoying it by pausing and looking around, she said.
