From Needham High to the Stars

January 27, 2025
• Onboard the International Space Station, astronaut Sunita Williams phoned home to students at Needham High School on Monday.

Two months shy of her anticipated return to Earth, Suni Williams called into her alma mater Monday morning to speak with high schoolers about working in space and how Needham set her up for success.

With technological help from Mission Control Houston, Williams fielded questions from the airlock, where she and her co-pilot Butch Wilmore will conduct a spacewalk later this week.

Williams and Wilmore piloted Boeing’s Starliner capsule back in June, but due to complications with the spacecraft, the astronauts are now calling the ISS home until they can return home in a SpaceX vessel. They’re tentatively scheduled to return at the end of March or early April, according to NASA.

Despite those unique circumstances, Williams said she expected a slight change in plans, as they were the first to fly the Starliner. However, the length of the delay came as “a little bit of a shock,” she said.

“We knew that would be probably a month or so, honestly, but the extended stay was just a little bit different,” Williams said. “And of course, everybody has plans, right? You have plans, and then you have a snow day, if your superintendent will give it to you, so you didn’t get to take your test or something that day, so you just move it to the next day. So, it’s the same type of thing.”

Williams stays connected with family through near-daily calls with her mom, she said, and through emails with friends on the ground. Keeping busy prevents her from feeling too isolated, she added.

Referencing the film “The Martian” — whose plot eerily reflects that of her own circumstances in some ways — Williams said she tries to solve one problem at a time. Before her upcoming spacewalk, Williams said she’ll focus solely on each task at hand as she puts on her spacesuit, removes the nitrogen out of her blood, opens the hatch and steps outside.

Each step is an intentional one, and she becomes hyper aware of how she and her tools are physically connected to the station, she said.

Asked how NHS inspired her to become an astronaut, Williams lauded the town’s geographic region — “close to Boston, close to the mountains, the ocean” — which cultivated her love for the outdoors and eventually the out-of-this-world.

“All of that, I think, culminated with my being able to grow up in Needham, going to a great school with great classes, taking AP classes, I think that all contributed to my desire to be curious and try to understand more than what was just right there,” she said. “So, I hope you guys take advantage of that.”

Students touched briefly on the science involved in space travel, including the complicated process of docking, in which two vessels are delicately joined together.

“Orbital mechanics — if you don’t have it in high school, get your superintendent to get you guys a class on it,” Williams said with a smile.

Williams also discussed growing stem cells in space, which could lead to advancements far beyond Earth’s atmosphere, like on Mars. And to prepare for the hard work on the outside of the ISS, Williams said she runs on the treadmill and does resistance training to stay in shape — “a necessary evil,” she called it.

Williams previously teleconferenced with students at Sunita Williams Elementary School in early December.

As they wrapped up the call, Williams imparted some simple advice: “Remember where you came from.”

“The education that you’re getting, it’s really top-notch… You’ve got a great foundation coming from Needham and coming from Needham High School,” she said, “so don’t ever sell yourself short and ask questions and always keep trying. Proud to be a Needham Rocket.”