NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Retires After 27 Years and Record-Breaking 608 Days in Space

Washington: NASA astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams has officially retired from the agency after an illustrious 27-year career.

Her retirement took effect on December 27, 2025, shortly after the holiday season. NASA announced on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised her contributions, stating, “Suni Williams has been a trailblazer in human spaceflight, shaping the future of exploration through her leadership aboard the space station and paving the way for commercial missions to low Earth orbit. Her work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the Moon and advancing toward Mars, and her extraordinary achievements will continue to inspire generations to dream big and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement, and thank you for your service to NASA and our nation.”

Over the course of three space missions, Williams accumulated an impressive 608 days in orbit, ranking second among NASA astronauts for total time spent in space. Her most recent mission, originally planned as a brief test flight aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June 2024 alongside astronaut Butch Wilmore, extended unexpectedly to more than nine months due to technical issues with the vehicle.

The pair eventually returned to Earth in March 2025 via a SpaceX Crew-9 capsule. This prolonged stay tied her with Wilmore for the sixth-longest single spaceflight by an American, at 286 days.

Williams, selected by NASA in 1998, completed nine spacewalks totalling 62 hours and 6 minutes—the most by any female astronaut and fourth overall in NASA's history. She also made history as the first person to run a marathon in space.

Her spaceflight journey began with the STS-116 mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on December 9, 2006, where she served as a flight engineer during Expeditions 14 and 15, conducting four spacewalks that set a then-world record for a single mission. In 2012, she launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome for a 127-day stint on Expeditions 32 and 33, performing three additional spacewalks to address an ammonia leak and replace key components.

Born in Euclid, Ohio, to an Indian-origin father from Gujarat and a Slovenian-American mother, Williams considers Needham, Massachusetts, her hometown. The 60-year-old, a former U.S. Navy officer, shares her life with husband Michael and their dogs, enjoying activities like working out, home projects, hiking, and camping.

Williams said, “Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favourite place to be. It’s been an incredible honour to have served in the Astronaut Office and have had the opportunity to fly in space three times. I had an amazing 27-year career at NASA, and that is mainly because of all the wonderful love and support I’ve received from my colleagues. The International Space Station, the people, the engineering, and the science are truly awe-inspiring and have made the next steps of exploration to the Moon and Mars possible. I hope the foundation we set has made these bold steps a little easier. I am super excited for NASA and its partner agencies as we take these next steps, and I can’t wait to watch the agency make history.”