4. Sunita Williams

Williams is currently making final preparations for a July 14 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to a NASA announcement.

She will be a flight engineer on the station's Expedition 32 with Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. On reaching the space station she will take over as commander of Expedition 33.

Sunita also made news on her decision to adopt a girl child, shocked at the increasing incidents of female foeticide in the state of Gujarat. She will be visiting Gujarat once again after completing her space expedition as she has decided to adopt a girl from Ahmedabad. Her sister, Dina is going through the required formalities to adopt a girl child from an organization based in Ahmedabad.