When Mukesh Ambani ran into Sunita Williams while waiting for an Uber. Throwback pic courtesy Anand Mahindra | Trending

Industrialist Anand Mahindra shared a warm welcome note on Wednesday for Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams after her return from space aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

Williams and her NASA colleague Butch Wilmore returned to Earth on after nine months’ stay at the International Space Station. Their eight-day journey in space stretched to nine months due to a glitch in their Boeing spacecraft.

Mahindra, 69, recalled running into Williams in Washington DC nearly two years ago during his visit to the US for the India-US Hi-Tech Handshake event during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit that year. The throwback photo he shared features him, billioniare Mukesh Ambani and Vrinda Kapoor with Sunita Williams.

Anand Mahindra’s message for Sunita Williams: ‘Swagatam, Sunita’

“When the SpaceX rescue mission was launched, I recalled this chance encounter almost two years ago with @Astro_Suni in Washington. It was an enormous relief to see her and her colleagues’ successful splashdown back on earth a few hours ago,” Mahindra said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“She is courage personified and it’s good to have her back amongst us. Swagatam, Sunita…”

Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra and entrepreneur Vrinda Kapoor were among the guests at a state dinner in Washington, DC, hosted by then US president Joe Biden in honour of PM Modi in June 2023.

Following the state dinner, the two Indian billionaires attended the India-US Hi-Tech Handshake event at the White House alongside prominent personalities like Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Mahindra had shared what he termed a “Washington moment” following the high-profile event, when he, along with Mukesh Ambani and Vani Kapoor were trying to call an Uber after they missed their shuttle bus that would have taken them to their official engagement.

“Mukesh Ambani, Vrinda Kapoor and I were continuing a conversation with the Secretary of Commerce and missed the group shuttle bus to the next lunch engagement. We were trying to call an Uber when we ran into NASA astronaut Sunita Williams @Astro_Suni,” Anand Mahindra had said in his post in 2023.

“Time for a selfie & we also asked if we could hitch a ride on her space shuttle instead of an Uber.”