IANS
 
Houston, Apr 27: Setting a record for space walks by a woman astronaut, Indian American Sunita Williams will return to Earth early June.

According to NASA's Johnson Space Center, Williams will come back to Earth aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, which is scheduled for a June 8 launch. Sunita has been in space since December 9, 2006, after she boarded space shuttle Discovery as part of the STS-116 mission.

During her stay she set a record for space walks by a female astronaut, conducting four excursions over 29 hours and 17 minutes.

"The STS-117 shuttle will carry her successor astronaut Clay Anderson to the international space station to begin his duty as an Expedition 15 flight engineer," said a NASA statement.

The exchange of Anderson for Sunita was originally planned for the STS-118 mission, now targeted for an August launch.

The expedition, initially set to take off in June, had to be postponed after "an unexpected hailstorm damaged Atlantis' external fuel tank and delayed the launch of STS-117".