Suni Williams in the blue jacket, with Gov. Healey to her right, pose for pictures at the State House with Boys and Girls Club of Boston members. Photo: Jay Willett/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Thursday was a busy day for astronaut Suni Williams.
Back from her prolonged nine month stay in space, Williams delivered the commencement address at Merrimack College Thursday morning.
The Needham native also received an honorary degree.
Then it was off to the State House for a meeting with Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.
Williams also met with members of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston where she talked about her experiences in space that made international headlines.
She and astronaut Butch Wilmore's stay at the International Space Station was extended from the planned eight days to more than 286 days due to issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
The Starliner was supposed to return them to Earth, but after being determined that it was unsafe, they stayed on the ISS and were later incorporated into a different mission. "I had an idea that things were going to drag out a little bit because there was a lot of discussions and potential testing that had to go on," she said.
Williams talked about the physical changes she experienced after spending so much time in zero gravity space.
She said she grew, then shrunk an inch while her eyesight improved.
She broke the space record for the most spacewalk time for a female astronaut at more than 62 hours.
Asked about the food, Williams answered diplomatically, "The food is ok."
And as far as keeping up morale, Williams said she enjoyed Friday karaoke with her Russian space mates.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jay Willett (@JayWillettWBZ) reports.