Has 17,206 MPH Advantage Over Other Contestants
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams will go faster than anyone has
ever gone in the Boston Marathon. She will run the famed race in
April as an official entrant from 210 miles above Earth aboard the
International Space Station. This will be the first time an
astronaut in space will be an official participant in a
marathon.
Williams hopes her unique run will serve as an inspiration.
"I encourage kids to start making physical fitness part of their
daily lives," Williams said. "I think a big goal like a marathon
will help get this message out there."
Williams, who is an accomplished marathoner, has served aboard
the space station since December 2006 as a member of the Expedition
14 crew. She will run the race on a station treadmill, circling
Earth at least twice in the process, running as fast as eight miles
per hour but flying more than five miles each second.
And she will not be alone in her adventure. Her sister Dina
Pandya and a fellow NASA astronaut, Karen Nyberg, will run the race
in Boston. Williams and Nyberg qualified for the Boston race by
finishing among the top 100 females in the Houston Marathon in
January 2006.
Exercise is essential in NASA's efforts to counteract the
effects of long- duration weightlessness on astronauts' health. For
months, Williams has been training for the marathon while aboard
the station. She runs at least four times a week, two longer runs
and two shorter runs. Station crews are required to exercise on the
treadmill, a stationary bike and a resistive exercise machine to
counter loss of bone density and muscle mass.
"In microgravity, both
of these things start to go away because we don't use our legs to
walk around and don't need the bones and muscles to hold us up
under the force of gravity," Williams said.
Williams (right) is a native of Needham, MA and graduated from
Needham High School in 1983. Her family resides near Falmouth,
MA.
In support of William's run, NASA will have an exhibit in Boston
during the marathon. Nyberg and astronaut Jeff Williams will be
available for interviews. Jeff Williams -- no relation to Suni
Williams -- completed a six-month stay on the station in 2006.
NASA's exhibit will be at the John Hancock Sports and Fitness Expo
at the Hynes Convention Center April 13-15.
Due to the crew's sleep schedule, NASA states Williams' run of
the marathon on the station may not coincide exactly with the race
on the ground... but mission control is working to match the events
as closely as possible. This year's marathon is Monday, April
16.
As Aero-News reported
Thursday, Williams will stay onboard the station
longer than originally intended, due to the domino-like effect
toNASA's shuttle launch schedule caused by the weather-related
postponement of the launch of the shuttle Atlantis.