Sunita Williams enjoys Olympics from space

Williams,46,sees no reason why being stationed on the International Space Station should keep her from a good race.

Williams plans to participate in the August 127 mile Falmouth Road Race as well as the September 15 Nautica Malibu Triathlon,with Dr Sanjay Gupta of CNN.

Williams is no stranger to space racing,having become the first orbiter to complete the Boston Marathon on her last trip to ISS in 2007.

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba,an avid sports fan,describes being able to catch some of the exciting events while in orbit. 8220;Even with all the work we had to do,we found time to get together and watch the Olympics,8221; Acaba wrote in a post to his blog 8220;The Great Outer Space8221; on August 7.

8220;Of course everyone knows there is something special about the Olympics and that feeling is not lost in space.8221;

Acaba and his crew-mates were even able to tune in for some of the history-making moments from the 2012 Olympics,being held in London.

8220;We were able to see Michael Phelps become the most decorated Olympian and Gabby Douglas8217; nerves of steel as she won the individual Gymnastics gold medal,8221; he said.

Acaba added that his unique surroundings drove home the significance of the Olympics.

8220;To have two weeks to watch the best athletes of the world compete is a dream come true for any sports enthusiast,8221; Acaba wrote.

8220;To watch them while orbiting above the Earth makes them even more special for us even though we often miss the end of a competition because we lose satellite coverage.8221;