PTI
 
 
HOUSTON, Jun 25: Indian-American Astronaut Sunita Williams had an emotional reunion with her family as friends and well-wishers gave her a rousing reception here, a day after her return from a record-setting mission to the International Space Station.

"This gravity thing takes a bit getting used to," said Williams, a little wobbly after months of weightlessness, after landing with her six crewmates on a NASA Gulfstream jet at Ellington Field in Texas.

Several hundred well-wishers, many of them family,  friends and co-workers from NASA's Johnson Space Centre,  gathered at Ellington Field to greet Williams and the six Atlantis astronauts.

"I'm not sure what I should say. There are so many to thank," said Williams her voice breaking with emotion.

"I'm a girl, so I'm allowed to do this," she said with a grin as tears welled up in her eyes, she said as the crowd broke out into frequent applause.

Williams, 41, who spend a record 195 days in space, the longest for any woman, quoted Tony Dungy, who became the first black coach to win the Super Bowl.

"He said something like, 'It's just the time and the place. There were many before me and many after me who can do this.

"It's just the time and place, " said Williams, noting she hopes her mission paves the way for more women to travel to space, during a 20-minute ceremony in an open hanger.

Williams was joined by her husband, Michael, her mother and sister, and Gorby, her Jack Russell Terrier.

The astronaut said she would spend the rest of the weekend getting reacquainted with her husband and Gorby.

With her return to Earth, Williams began a 45-day physical rehabilitation programme to regain strength in her bones and muscles.

The mission was the first for Williams, who has said she hopes to launch again.

Atlantis touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California after stormy weather in Florida prevented a return to the Kennedy Space Centre.

"We are so happy to be back and have had a successful mission," said Frederick "Rick" Sturckow, the shuttle's commander.

"It feels great to have all of that behind us."

Before returning to earth, the crew overcame damage to the thermal shield on shuttle's tail section as well as the crash of Russian computers aboard the space station responsible for steering and life support.

The setbacks added two days to their flight and increased the number of spacewalks.

"This was an incredibly complicated mission," said Michael Coats, the Johnson Space Centre director.

"This crew handled everything thrown at them and more and made it look easy."

The crew was assembled on a stage with a giant American flag as the backdrop.

Atlantis lifted off June eight on a 5.8-million mile journey to the space station.