Having created a new record of stay in space by a woman, Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams now has set her eyes on the Red Planet.
Williams, who returned to earth on June 22 after spending 195 days at the International Space Station, said she would
love to fly to Mars, if not the moon.
"I would love to go to Mars ... just because it is a different planet," she told mediapersons in India through a videoconference from Houston.
Asked to choose between moon and Mars as her next destination, she said she would also love to go to the moon,
but Mars would be 'different'.
Williams said her long stay in space would definitely help her face the rigours of the long journey to Mars.
She also thanked people across India, particularly from her native state of Gujarat, who prayed for her safe return to
earth.
Williams fondly recalled taking a copy of Bhagvad Gita and an idol of Lord Ganesha along with her to the space
station and took tense moments in her stride. "I knew Ganesha was looking after me," she said.
She said she will be visiting Hyderabad in September for the International Astronautical Congress after which she will visit her relatives in Gujarat and Delhi.