Parents of Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams on Sunday said they felt a bit nervous but were confident that their daughter would return safely to the Earth as the space shuttle Atlantis was cleared for the journey back to Earth.

“I’m confident that everything will turn out well. The whole crew will return safely,” Sunita’s mother Bonnie Pandiya said. She said her daughter would be going through physiotherapy after having been in the space for so long. “But we are confident that she is going to recover quickly and knowing Sunny, she will be out jogging within a week or two,” she added.

Bonnie said she never felt far away from her daughter as the family could talk to her on cell phone and send e-mails.

Sunita’s father Deepak Pandya, who hails from Gujarat, said they would be a “little bit nervous” and have “apprehensions... but we are confident that she will be coming singing.